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LIFE  AND  LETTERS 

OF 

DR.  WILLIAM  BEAUMONT 


yf?lHy^^ 


LIFE  AXD  LETTEKS 

OF 

DE.  WILL1A:\I   BEAUMONT 


INCLUDING    HITHERTO    UNPUBLISHED    DATA    CONCERNING 
THE  CASE  OF  ALEXIS  ST.  MARTIN 


BY 

JESSE  S.  MYER,  A.  B.,  M.  D. 

ASSOCIATE  IX  MEDICINE  IX  WASHIXGTOX  UXIVERSITY.   ST.   LOUIS 


WITH  AX  IXTRODUCTIOX  BY 

SIR  WILLIAM  OSLER.  Bt.,  :M.  D..  F.  R.  S. 

KEGIUS   PROFESSOR   OF    IIEDICIXE   IX    OXFORD   UXIVERSITY.   EXGLAXD 


^yITH  FIFTY -EIGHT  ILLISTBATIOXS 


ST.   LOUIS 

C.  Y.  MOSBY  COMPANY 
1912 


Copyright.  1912,  by  C.  V.  Mosby  Company 


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rt 


THIS  VOLUME 

IS 

AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED 

TO 

MY  WIFE  AND  CHILDREN 


PREFACE 

This  biographic  sketch  of  William  Beaumont  is  presented  on  the 
hundredth  anniversary  of  his  entry  into  the  practice  of  medicine. 
Just  a  century  ago — June  9,  1812 — he  was  granted  a  license  by 
the  Third  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  Vermont  to  practice 
"physic  and  surgery,"  and  a  decade  later — June  6,  1822 — destiny 
let  fall  in  his  path  the  opportunity  which  he  recognized,  grasped, 
and  improved  with  a  zeal  and  an  unselfishness  not  excelled  in 
the  annals  of  medical  science.  Ever  since  that  time  the  story  of 
Dr.  Beaumont  and  the  case  of  Alexis  St.  Martin  has  had  a  peculiar 
fascination  for  persons  in  various  walks  of  life — from  the  school- 
boy, who  gains  his  first  knowledge  of  the  incident  from  his 
"Essentials  of  Physiology,"  to  the  scientist,  who,  by  comparison  of 
Beaumont's  work  with  the  most  recent  developments  in  the  physi- 
ology of  digestion,  marvels  at  the  thoroughness  of  this  remarkable 
piece  of  research,  conducted  by  a  young  army  officer  under  the  most 
discouraging  circumstances. 

Though  there  have  been  a  number  of  brief  biographic  sketches 
of  Beaumont  presented  in  the  form  of  addresses  on  various  occa- 
sions, they  have  dealt  with  the  man  largely  from  the  stand- 
point of  his  contribution  to  medical  science,  under  the  general  as- 
sumption, no  doubt,  that  little  was  to  be  learned  of  other  phases 
and  stages  of  his  life.  This  impression  was  likewise  shared  by  me 
until  through  my  studies  the  various  chapters  of  his  life  began  to 
unfold,  when  my  greatest  difficulty  was,  not  how  to  obtain  sufficient 
material  for  his  biography,  but  how  to  condense  into  a  volume  of 
reasonable  size  the  mass  of  facts  gathered  from  hitherto  unexplored 
sources.  The  investigation  once  begun,  hidden  treasures  of  infor- 
mation were  revealed  without  number. 

The  nucleus  of  this  work  was  formed  from  the  contents  of  two 
old  chests  found  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Beaumont  Keim,  who 
at  the  age  of  four  score  years  and  ten  still  lives  in  the  city  of  St. 
Louis,  where  her  father,  Dr.  Beaumont,  spent  the  last  twenty  years 
of  his  life  and  where  his  remains  lie  buried.  To  her  my  profound 
thanks  are  due  for  the  great  privilege  of  delving  into  those  old 
records  of  the  past.  These  strong  boxes  proved  to  be  a  veritable 
storehouse  of  biographic  material  in  the  form  of  documents,  manu- 


X  Preface 

scripts,  memoranda,  diaries,  letters,  clippings.  iDOoks,  etc.  Beau- 
mont was  so  methodical  throughout  his  whole  life  that  he  had  treas- 
ured every  scrap  of  paper  which  seemed  to  him  of  the  slightest  im- 
portance, and  preserved  not  only  all  letters  received,  but  also  a 
rough  draft  in  his  handwriting  of  those  sent  by  him,  a  fact  which 
renders  the  niaterial  of  unusual  value  and  importance  from  an 
historic  standpoint. 

It  would  seem  ostentatious  on  my  part  to  enter  into  any  extended 
recital  of  the  difficulties  encountered  in  deciphering,  abstracting, 
and  copying  this  vast  material,  or  to  enumerate  the  lonu'  list  of 
inquiries  that  it  was  necessary  for  me  to  make  in  order  to  secure  a 
complete  chronological  arrangement  of  the  data.  It  is  sufficient  to 
say  that  in  the  pi'epa ration  of  this  work  several  hundred  letters 
w'ere  exchanged  with  many  individuals  in  various  sections  of  the 
United  States  in  which  Beaumont  at  some  time  lived  and  conducted 
his  activities.  Librarians,  town  clerks,  postmasters,  Beaumont  de- 
scendants, and  the  descendants  of  those  who  through  association 
seem  to  have  exerted  an  influence  on  his  character,  received  requests 
from  me  to  aid  in  the  investigation  of  such  sources  of  information 
as  were  o])eii  to  them,  and  almost  invariably  these  appeals  met  with 
replies  containing  either  the  definite  information  desired,  or  the 
suggestion  of  sources  from  which  it  might  be  obtained.  To  these 
persons,  without  whose  aid  my  work  would  have  been  incom- 
plete. I  wish  to  extend  my  sincere  thanks,  and  at  the  same  time 
express  my  regrets  that  space  will  not  permit  an  enumeration  of  all 
their  names  and  contributions.  During  the  extensive  correspond- 
ence, which  proved  so  important  in  the  evolution  of  this  biography, 
I  often  recalled  to  mind  Boswell's  statement  in  his  preface  to  the 
"Life  of  Samuel  Johnson":  "I  was  sometimes  obliged  to  run  half 
over  London  in  order  to  fix  a  date  correctly;  which,  when  I  had 
accomplished.  I  well  knew  could  obtain  me  no  praise,  though  a 
failure  would  have  been  to  my  discredit." 

It  was  interesting  to  see  the  data  thus  gathered  from  far  and 
near  fall  into  place  as  do  the  stones  in  an  arch.  Even  replies  of  a 
negative  character  were  of  positive  value,  for  the  biographer  gains 
a  peculiar  satisfaction  from  the  knowledge  that  every  promising 
thread  of  information  was  at  least  followed  to  its  end.  For  ex- 
ample, it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  have  learned  from  officials 
that  there  are  no   records  bearing  on  Beaumont  to  be   found   at 


Preface  xi 

Plattsburgh  Barracks,  his  rendezvous  in  the  AVar  of  1812;  at  Fort 
Mackinac,  where  he  had  St.  Martin  under  treatment  from  1822  to 
1825 ;  at  Jefferson  Barracks  and  the  arsenal  at  St.  Louis,  the  scenes 
of  his  activities  from  1835  to  1840 ;  and  among  such  archives  as 
those  of  the  AVisconsin  Historical  Library  at  Madison,  the  Kellogg 
Public  Library  at  Green  Bay,  AVis.,  etc. 

To  Surgeon-General  Torney  and  his  capable  associates  in  the 
surgeon-general's  office  and  in  the  Surgeon-Genei'al's  Library  I  wish 
to  extend  my  sincere  thanks  for  many  acts  of  kindness.  Through 
their  courtesy  I  gained  personal  access  to  archives  including 
many  volumes  of  old  ledgers  containing  abstracts  of  letters  received 
at  and  sent  from  the  surgeon-general's  office  from  1812  to  1840,  the 
period  during  Avhich  Beaumont  was  an  officer  in  the  army,  from 
which  many  important  dates  and  interesting  facts  were  gleaned. 
In  addition  to  this,  through  the  remarkable  system  maintained  in 
his  department,  the  surgeon-general  succeeded  in  bringing  to  light 
for  me  a  number  of  most  important  letters,  which  had  for  years 
been  stored  in  the  basement  of  the  Surgeon-General's  Library.  I 
can  not  say  too  much  in  recognition  of  the  courtesy  and  substantial 
aid  extended  me  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  R.  Kean  and  every  other 
member  of  this  department  with  whom  it  Avas  my  good  fortune  to 
come  in  contact. 

It  gives  me  pleasure  to  say  a  word  in  commendation  of  the  genial 
New  England  town  clerks,  loyal  custodians  of  those  priceless 
volumes — the  New  England  town  records — on  which  is  based  much 
of  the  earl}^  history  of  our  country.  I  am  especially  indebted  to 
them  for  the  opportunities  which  enabled  me  to  collect  most  of  the 
material  contained  in  the  chapter  on  Genealogy,  and  I  shall  always 
recall  with  pleasant  recollections  the  moments  spent  with  them  in 
an  investigation  of  the  old  town  records,  dating  back  as  far  as  1680. 
This  chapter  was  undertaken  not  only  with  a  view  to  completeness, 
but  also  with  a  desire  to  determine,  if  possible,  whether  heredity 
played  any  part  in  accounting  for  AA^lliam  Beaumont's  unusual 
powers  of  keen  observation  and  tenacious  perseverance. 

Sir  AVilliam  Osier,  whose  Biographical  Essays  are  an  inspiration 
to  every  student  of  American  medical  history,  has  done  me  the 
honor  to  write  an  introduction  to  this  book,  for  which  favor  I  de- 
sire to  express  my  grateful  appreciation. 

My  thanks  are  due  to  Miss  Helen  S.  Bixby,  of  Plattsburgh,  N.Y., 


XII  Preface 

for  her  careful  and  successful  search  through  the  files  of  the  Platts- 
burgh  RepuNican  from  1811  to  1835,  the  results  of  which  are 
evident  in  the  early  chapters  of  this  book.  I  am  likewise  indebted 
to  Mrs.  George  Fuller  Tuttle,  of  Plattsburgh,  author  of  "Three 
Centuries  in  Champlain  Valley,"  for  valuable  data;  to  Mrs.  C.  C. 
Bishop,  of  Dorchester.  Mass.,  for  information  concerning  her 
grandfather,  Dr.  Beaumont's  medical  preceptor;  to  Mrs.  Ljalia 
BroAvn,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  for  valuable  letters  throwing  light  on 
his  early  life ;  and  to  many  others  too  numerous  to  mention  here 
for  aid  in  collecting  material  relating  to  the  life  of  Dr.  Beaumont. 
To  those  of  my  friends  who  read  portions  of  my  manuscript  and 
made  recommendations  I  wish  to  acknowledge  indebtedness  for  the 
interest  manifested. 

Many  interesting  anecdotes  concerning  Dr.  Beaumont  have  come 
to  me  in  the  course  of  this  work,  but,  when  compared  Avith  abso- 
lutely authentic  data  in  my  hands,  I  found  so  many  discrepancies 
in  them  that  I  determined  to  discard  all  that  could  not  be  verified, 
and  to  confine  my  narrative  to  such  statements  as  could  be  substan- 
tiated by  documentary  evidence. 

As  the  same  remark  that  has  been  applied  to  most  men  who  have 
accomplished  great  deeds  has  also  been  made  concerning  Beaumont 
— that  he  was  only  a  man  of  destiny,  that  mere  accident  brought  to 
him  a  certain  opportunity,  that  another  in  the  same  position  would 
have  accomplished  similar  results — I  have  added  in  the  appendix 
a  list  of  literature  references  and  abstracts  of  cases  of  gastric  fistulae 
that  occurred  prior  to  the  case  of  St.  ]\Iartin.  Though  some  of 
these  cases  fell  into  the  hands  of  true  scientists  in  large  medical 
centers,  where  every  facility  was  afforded  for  investigation,  not  one 
case  was  systematically  utilized  to  increase  our  then  meager  knowl- 
edge of  the  physiology  of  digestion.  No  comment  is  therefore  nec- 
essary to  make  conspicuous  by  comparison  the  indefatigable  efforts 
of  Dr.  Beaumont  in  his  research. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  stated  that  it  has  not  been  my  endeavor 
to  write  a  popular  biography,  which  so  frequently  necessitates  sac- 
rificing fact  for  style.  I  have  therefore  avoided  altering  the  phrase- 
ology of  Dr.  Beaumont,  and  have  presented  intact  such  parts  of 
his  letters  and  papers  as  are  used  in  this  book.  The  peculiar  com- 
position, orthography,  and  capitalization  of  Dr.  Beaumont's  letters 
and  memoranda  have  been  followed  in  order  to  retain  his  char- 


Preface  xin 

acteristic  style,  and  only  so  much  of  the  punctuation  has  been 
corrected  as  seemed  necessary  to  aid  the  reader  in  more  readily 
comprehending  the  ideas  intended  to  be  conveyed.  This  desire  to 
retain  the  writer's  individuality  has  been  foUoAved  also  in  the 
letters  written  by  others  to  Dr.  Beaumont.  Preserving  Dr.  Beau- 
mont's diction  gives  the  reader  his  mannerisms  of  speech,  his 
unique  and  forceful  modes  of  expression,  and  at  the  same  time 
presents  a  concept  of  the  man's  traits  and  character  which  could 
not  possibly  be  conveyed  by  the  words  of  another.  In  this  I  again 
observe  Mr.  Boswell's  idea  when  he  said:  "Indeed  I  can  not  con- 
ceive a  more  perfect  mode  of  writing  any  man's  life,  than  not  only 
relating  all  the  most  important  events  of  it  in  their  order,  but  inter- 
weaving what  he  privately  wrote,  and  said,  and  thought ;  by  which 
mankind  are  enabled  as  it  were  to  see  him  live,  and  to  'live  o'er 
each  scene'  with  him,  as  he  actually  advanced  through  the  several 
stages  of  his  life.  .  .  .  And  he  will  be  seen  as  he  really  was, 
for  I  profess  to  write,  not  his  panegyrick,  which  must  be  all  praise, 
but  his  life ;  which,  great  and  good  as  he  was,  must  not  be  supposed 
to  be  entirely  perfect.     ..." 

J.  S.  M. 
St.  Louis,  June,  1912. 


CONTEXTS 

PAGE 
IXTEODX'CTIOX XXIII 

CHAPTER  I. 

Genealogy     1 

The  name  of  Beaumont  in  history  and  literature — William  Bea- 
mont  sails  from  England  in  1635 — Marries  Lydia  Danforth,  of 
Cambridge,  and  migrates  to  Connecticut — Elected  freeman  at 
Hartford  in  1652  and  at  Saybrook  in  1669 — Has  seven  children — 
Samuel,  second  in  line,  marries  Hester  Buckingham,  of  Say- 
brook — Deed  of  gift  bequeathing  him  entire  estate — Samuel  has 
four  children — Samuel,  Jr.,  third  in  line,  marries  Abigail  Denni- 
son  and  has  four  children — William,  fourth  in  line,  moves  to 
Lebanon — Marries  and  becomes  a  man  of  considerable  means — 
Has  five  sons  and  four  daughters — Samuel,  fifth  in  line — Master 
Tisdale's  school  at  Lebanon — Samuel  and  four  brothers  in  the 
War  of  the  Revolution — Becomes  corporal — After  the  ^var  settles 
at  Lebanon  and  becomes  thriving  farmer — ^Rears  large  family — 
His  son  William,  the  subject  of  this  book. 

CHAPTER  IL 
1785-1806 10 

William  Beaumont  born  November  21,  1785 — Conditions  at  Leba- 
non just  after  the  War  of  the  Revolution — Description  of  the  town- 
ship— Life  on  a  New  England  farm  at  that  period — Beaumont's 
political  and  religious  training — Common  school  education  ob- 
tained under  difficulties — Hearing  impaired — ^Xo  authentic  records 
of  his  boyhood — Meeting-house  war  in  1804 — Factors  influencing 
him  as  he  approached  his  majority. 

CHAPTER   III. 
1806-1812 15 

Leaves  home  in  1806 — Wanders  northward  through  Massachusetts 
and  Vermont — Settles  at  Champlain,  New  York,  and  teaches  school 
three  years — Letter  to  his  father — Spirit  of  patriotism — Words  of 
advice  to  his  brother — Begins  study  of  medicine  in  1810  with  Dr. 
Benjamin  Chandler,  of  St.  Albans,  A'ermont — Sketch  of  Chan- 
dler's life — Case  records,  quotations,  etc.,  from  Beaumont's  note- 
book when  an  apprentice — Views  on  politics — A  stanch  Repub- 
lican— Granted  license  by  the  Third  Medical  Society  of  the  State 
of  Vermont,  June,  1812 — Certificates  of  character  and  attainments 
from  Dr.  Chandler  and  others — Testimonial  from  Champlain 
Chapter  of  Royal  Arch  IMasons — In  love  with  Chandler's  daugh- 


XVI  Contents 

PAGE 

ter— Leaves  his  preceptor  September  8,  1812— Enters  army  of  the 
North  as  surgeon's  mate  in  Sixth  Regiment  Infantry— Suspends 
duty  and  visits  St.  Albans— Returns  to  active  duty— Letters  to 
Dr.  Chandler. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

1812-1820 ^^ 

Descriptive  diary— War  of  1812— March  from  Plattsburgh  to 
Sacketts  Harbor — Embarks  on  schooner  Julia — Battle  of  Little 
York— Explosion  of  magazine— Storming  of  Fort  George— Notes 
on  prevalent  types  of  diseases  in  this  campaign— Surgical  meas- 
ures employed  in  injuries— Valiant  service  at  battle  of  Platts- 
]3urgh— Challenged  Captain  Richards  to  duel— Published  him  to 
the  world  in  circular— Resigned  from  army  and  enters  private 
practice  in  Plattsburg— Member  and  treasurer  of  "The  Forum"— 
'•Medical  and  Physical  Journal"  commenced  in  the  sixth  year  of 
his  medical  practice— Joins  Clinton  County  Medical  Society— En- 
gaged to  daughter  of  "Friend  Israel  Green,  innholder  in  Platts- 
l3^„.gh"— Offer  of  clerkship  in  surgeon-general's  office— Reenters 
army— Ordered  to  Fort  Mackinac— Adieu  to  shores  of  Lake 
Chamiilain. 


CHAPTER  V. 

1820-1822      

Traveling  journal  from  Plattsburgh  to  Mackinac.  1820— Visits  his 
old  Connecticut  home— Trip  through  Erie  Canal  to  Buffalo— Falls 
of  Niagara— Dr.  Franklin's  project  for  attaining  moral  perfec- 
tion—Through lakes  to  Mackinac— Description  of  Michilimacki- 
nac— Reports  for  duty  to  General  Macomb— Collects  and  sends 
mineralogical  specimens  to  Washington— Plea  to  surgeon-general 
to  save  hospital  gardens— Successful  in  efforts  to  have  Indian 
agency  built  elsewhere— Village  of  Mackinac— American  Fur  Com- 
pany—Introduction of  Ramsay  Crooks  and  others— The  Voya- 
geur— A  case  history  of  this  period— Returns  to  Plattsburgh  to 
■^vred- Journal  from  Mackinac  to  Plattsburgh,  August,  1821— 
Marries  the  same  month  and  returns  to  his  post— Mrs.  Beaumont, 
a  woman  of  unusual  character— Letter  to  his  parents-in-law. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

1822-1828      

Accident  to  Alexis  St.  Martin,  June  G.  1822— Statement  of  an  eye- 
witness—Sundry cases  of  practice:  San  Martin,  St.  Andre,  Sheri- 
dan, etc.— Beaumont's  hospital  record  of  St.  Martin's  case- 
County's  attitude  toward  Alexis,  a  pauper— Beaumont's  sarcastic 
soliloquy  on  "Charity"— Conceives  idea  of  conducting  experiments 


74 


10^ 


Contents  xvii 

PACK 

on  digestion — Reports  case  to  Lovell  for  publication — Surgeon- 
general's  reply — Through  mistake  published  as  "Lovell's  Case  of 
Wounded  Stomach" — Ordered  to  Fort  Niagara — Starts  another 
series  of  experiments — St.  Martin  runs  away  into  Canada — Sends 
report  of  first  series  of  experiments  to  medical  recorder — Chief 
witness  in  trial  by  court-martial — Lieutenant  Griswold  found 
guilty — President  Adams  reverses  decision  of  the  court — Criti- 
cises Beaumont's  position — Beaumont  issues  circular  criticising 
president's  action — Ordered  to  Fort  Howard,  Michigan  Territory — 
Winnebago  Indian  war — Correspondence  with  surgeon-general 
concerning  vaccine — Clew  to  Alexis'  whereabouts — Ordered  to  Fort 
Crawford  (Prairie  du  Chien). 

CHAPTER  Vn. 

1828-1833 134 

Alexis  brought  back  by  officers  of  American  Fur  Company — Sec- 
ond series  of  experiments — Summary  of  results — Alexis  returns 
to  Canada  in  spring  of  1831 — Beaumont  applies  for  furlough  to 
visit  Europe — Granted  by  secretary  of  war,  May  23 — ^Recalled  for 
the  "good  of  the  public  service" — Black  Hawk  Indian  war — 
Cholera  epidemic — Beaumont's  views  on  cholera — History  of  the 
intermittent  fever  at  Prairie  du  Chien — Furlough  for  six  months 
— Final  order  by  Colonel  Zachary  Taylor — Returns  to  Plattsburgh 
via  St  Louis — Description  of  the  home-coming — Alexis  meets  him 
there — Articles  of  agreement  between  Dr.  Beaumont  and  Alexis — 
"Pill  Cochie's  parting  admonition  to  his  dear  old  wife,  Debh." — 
Spends  furlough  in  Washington,  D.  C. — Third  series  of  experi- 
ments— Investigation  of  the  literature  on  digestion — Alexis  made 
sergeant — Life  in  Washington  very  congenial. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

1833 154 

Enlists  the  aid  of  Professor  Robley  Dunglison,  of  University  of 
Virginia — Complete  correspondence  preserved — Dunglison  sug- 
gests various  problems  for  investigation — Afterward  visits  Wash- 
ington and  assists  in  experiments — Beaumont  extends  his  thanks, 
and  requests  Dunglison  not  to  anticipate  him  in  publication  of 
the  experiments — Dunglison  agrees  to  this,  and  suggests  that  they 
will  fix  with  certainty  the  great  ingredients  of  the  gastric  juice — 
Results  of  analyses — Beaumont  marvels  at  "systematic  obstinacy 
of  those  holding  other  views" — Beaumont  sends  an  abstract  of  his 
work  to  the  surgeon-general — Ordered  to  New  York  City — Com- 
plains of  "vexatious  social  intercourse" — Dunglison  now  con- 
cludes that  the  precise  constituents  of  the  gastric  juice  may 
never  be  determined — Visits  New  Haven  and  consults  Professor 


xvni  Contents 

FAGS 

Benjamin  Silliman,  of  Yale — Siiliman  suggests  that  specimen  be 
sent  to  Berzeliiis.  of  Stockholm — Specimen  is  sent — Complete  cor- 
respondence on  the  subject. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

1833-1834      . 171 

Goes  to  Plattsburgh  with  Alexis — Writes  surgeon-general  concern- 
ing the  publication  of  his  book,  and  requests  transfer  to  Platts- 
burgh^Mr.  Livingston  wishes  Beaumont  to  visit  Paris  with 
Alexis — Beaumont  made  recruiting  officer  at  Plattsburgh  while 
preparing  the  book — Given  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medi-  • 
cine  by  Columbian  College  at  Washington,  D.  C. — Connecticut 
Medical  Society  elects  him  an  honorary  member — Conducts  fourth 
series  of  experiments  at  Plattsburgh — Silliman  sends  results  of 
his  investigations,  and  regrets  not  being  able  to  do  more — Final 
appeal  to  Dunglison  for  more  light — Sends  specimens  to  Dr. 
Franklin  Bache,  of  Philadelphia — Bache  has  not  "requisite  con- 
venience and  apparatus" — Issues  proposals  for  publishing  by  sub- 
scription—Newspaper reviews  and  notices — New  agreement  with 
Alexis — The  book,  preface,  outline,  conclusions,  etc. — Letters  of 
thanks  for  complimentary  copies  from  men  of  note — Fails  to  find 
publisher  in  London — A  "memo"  of  Dr.  Beaumont's  worldly 
goods. 

CHAPTER  X. 

1834-1835 210 

Beaumont  asks  appropriation  of  Congress — Advice  concerning  the 
matter  from  Surgeon-General  Lovell,  Azariah  C.  Flagg,  and  Dr. 
Franklin  Bache — Memorializes  Congress — Referred  to  committee 
— Presented  to  the  Senate  January  27.  1834 — Referred  to  joint 
committee  on  the  Library  of  Congress — Appeals  to  the  committee 
from  various  physicians — Edward  Everett  fathers  movement — 
Amendment  to  appropriation  bill  lost  by  vote  of  129  to  56 — Letter 
from  Edward  Everett  deploring  fate  of  bill — Suggests  revised 
memorial — German  edition  of  w'ork — Suggestions  for  a  plan  and 
regulation  of  commercial  hospitals — Exhibits  St.  Martin  at  New 
Haven  and  Boston — Letter  from  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson — St.  Mar- 
tin returns  to  Canada — ^Requests  navy  and  w-ar  departments  each 
to  take  one  hundred  volumes  of  his  book — Visits  Plattsburgh  to 
see  family  and  meet  Alexis — Alexis  fails  to  appear — Beaumont  re- 
ports arrival  at  Jefferson  Barracks  without  St.  Martin — Dr. 
Charles  T.  Jackson  endeavors  to  retain  St.  Martin  in  the  East — 
Berzelius  finally  reports  results  to  Silliman — Findings  most  dis- 
appointing— Leave  of  absence  to  visit  family — Letter  to  wife  de- 
scriptive of  journey  through  Virginia — Ordered  to  duty  at  St. 
Louis  and  the  arsenal — Makes  another  attempt  to  obtain  Alexis. 


Contents  xix 

CHAPTER  XI.  PAGE 

1835-1840 238 

Arrives  at  St.  Louis  August  1,  1835 — Granted  privilege  of  engag- 
ing in  private  practice — Sends  second  memorial  to  Congress — 
Referred  to  select  committee — "Pigeonholed" — Letter  from  An- 
drew Beaumont,  of  Pennsylvania — Beaumont  writes  surgeon- 
general  of  his  large  practice — Offered  chair  of  surgery  in  medical 
department  of  St.  Louis  University — Given  time  to  confer  with 
authorities  at  Washington — ^Writes  surgeon-general  suggesting  "a 
good  excuse  for  nonacceptance" — Surgeon-General  Lovell  had 
died  in  meantime — Letters  from  Messrs.  Morrison  and  Dousman 
concerning  Alexis,  "your  patent  digester" — Replies  to  American 
Physiological  Society  concerning  their  obtaining  Alexis  for  in- 
vestigation— Hears  from  Alexis  himself — Writes  Mr.  Crooks  con- 
cerning transporting  Alexis  from  Canada — Sir  Andrew  Combe 
publishes  English  edition  of  Beaumont's  work — Sends  copies  to 
Beaumont  with  note — Extract  from  preface  of  Combe's  edition — 
Surgeon-General  Lawson  orders  Beaumont  to  Florida — Beaumont 
tenders  conditional  resignation — Ethan  Allen  Hitchcock  and 
Robert  E.  Lee — Resignation  accepted — Memorializes  President 
Van  Buren — Military  career  ended. 

CHAPTER  Xn. 

1840-1853 264 

Purchases  a  country  place — Peace  and  quiet — ^Family  relations — 
Letters  to  General  Hitchcock — Letters  of  advice  to  his  son — Pro- 
fessional relations  with  patients — Medical  partnerships — Member 
and  president  of  Medical  Society  of  Missouri — President's  ad- 
dress— Stormy  sessions — Darnes-Davis  episode — Mary  Dugan  case 
— Sued  for  malpractice — Letters  to  Dr.  McCall — English  scientists 
after  Alexis — Extensive  correspondence  from  1846  to  1852  in  ef- 
forts to  get  Alexis  again — Alexis'  evasiveness  causes  many  disap- 
pointments— Sends  son  to  Canada  after  him — Expedition  unsuc- 
cessful— Second  edition  of  book  appears — Corrected  by  Samuel 
Beaumont — Claude  Bernard  makes  inquiry  concerning  Alexis — 
Final  plea  to  Alexis — Cholera  epidemic — Traits  of  character  de- 
scribed— Death  in  1853 — Buried  in  Bellefontaine  Cemetery — Mrs. 
Beaumont. 

Appendix 297 

Alexis  St.  Martin's  last  days — Literature  references  and  abstracts 
of  cases  of  gastric  fistulse  prior  to  that  of  St.  Martin — Summary 
of  literature  consulted. 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACK 

Deed  of  gift  of  William  Beamont  to  his  son  Samuel 4 

An  exercise  in  prescription  writing 22 

Beaumont's  license  to  practice  medicine 28 

Certificate  of  professional  attainments  and  moral  character     ....  30 

Certificate  of  good  character 33 

Advertisement  announcing  commencement  of  practice  of  medicine     .  33 

Beaumont's  commission  as  surgeon's  mate 40 

First  page  of  Beaumont's  diary  while  surgeon's  mate 42 

Second  page  of  Beaumont's  diary  while  surgeon's  mate 43 

Page  from,  notebook  of  medical  observations  during  War  of  1812  .  .  48 
Page   from   notebook   outlining  his   treatment   of   prevailing   diseases 

during  War  of  1812 43 

First  part  of  a  circular  issued  by  Beaumont  in  a  controversy  with  an 

officer -58 

Second  part  of  a  circular  issued  by  Beaumont  in  a  controversy  with  an 

officer 59 

Advertisement  announcing  entry  into  private  practice  and  opening  of 

a    general    store     61 

Advertisement  revealing  change  of  pailnership 62 

Advertisement  requesting  return  of  sand  box 67 

Advertisement  announcing  discontinuance   of   practice 69 

Beaumont's   commission  as  post  surgeon 70 

First  page  of  a  medical  and  physical  journal 72 

First  page  of  Beaumont's  traveling  journal 75 

Steamboat  Walk-in-the-Water 77 

Fort   Michilimackinac   in   midwinter 80 

Block-house   at   Mackinac 81 

Page  of  Beaumont's  diary  referring  to  attaining  moral  perfection     .     .  84 

North  sally  port  of  fort  at  Mackinac 86 

South  sally  port  of  fort  at  Mackinac 87 

Officers'  stone  quarters  at  Mackinac 88 

Clipping  announcing  Beaumont's   marriage 98 

Dr.  Beaumont  at  about  the  time  of  his  marriage 100 

Mrs.  Beaumont  at  about  the  time  of  her  marriage 101 

First  page  of  hospital  record  of  St.  Martin's  case 104 

House  in  which  St.  Martin  was  wounded 106 

One-story  frame  hospital  where  St.  Martin  lay  during  convalescence    .  114 

Surgeon-General  Joseph  Lovell 119 

Order  granting  Beaumont  furlough  for  one  year 141 

Order  of  Col.  Zachary  Taylor  granting  Beaumont  furlough     ....  144 

Beaumont  and  family  at  about  the  time  of  their  return  to  Plattsburgh  146 

Last  page  of  a  contract  made  between  Beaumont  and  St.  ^lartin  in  1832  148 

XXI 


XXII  Illustrations 

PAGE 

Beaumont's  synoptical  index  of  various  authors  on  digestion    ....  151 

Professor  Robley  Dunglison  and  part  of  a  note  to  Beaumont     ....  155 

Professor  Benjamin  Silliman.  Sr 170 

Dr.    Samuel    Beaumont 175 

Subsf-ription  blank  for  the  sale  of  Beaumont's  book 184 

Last  page  of  a  contract  made  between  Beaumont  and  St.  Martin  in  1833  192 

Engraving  from  original   edition  of  Beaumont's  book 191 

Engraving  from  original  edition  of  Beaumont's  book 195 

Engraving  from  original  edition  of  Beaumont's  book 196 

Letter  from  Senator  Thomas  Hart  Benton 205 

Portion  of  a  letter  from  Edward  Everett 220 

Surgeon-General  Thomas  Lawson 250 

Beaumont's  country  place  near  St.  Louis,  Mo 266 

Beaumont  at  the  age  of  66  years 273 

St.  Martin  at  about  the  age  of  67  years 282 

General  Ethan  Allen  Hitchcock  and  Israel  Green  Beaumont     ....  286 
Monument  at  Fort  Mackinac  commemorating  the  experiments  of  Dr. 

Beaumont  on  St.  Martin 293 

Tombstones  at  the  graves  of  Dr.  and  :\Irs.  Beaumont 295 

St.  :\Iartin  at  the  age  of  81  years 297 


INTRODUCTION 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  introduce  to  the  Profession  a  worthy- 
study  of  William  Beaumont,  in  whose  work  three  generations 
have  now  been  interested — as  well  as  in  ''that  old  fistulous  Alexis," 
the  subject  of  his  experiments.  While  the  chief  facts  of  his  life 
are  well  known  from  fragmentary  sketches  that  have  appeared, 
the  sources  for  a  full  biography  have  only  recently  been  made 
available.  The  family  papers  have  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
Dr.  Myer,  to  whom  it  has  been  a  labor  of  love  to  present  a  picture 
of  the  first  great  American  physiologist  in  its  proper  setting. 

To  the  medical  bibliographer  there  are  few  more  treasured 
Americana  than  the  browm-backed,  poorly  printed  octavo  volume 
of  280  pages  with  the  imprint  "  Plattsburgh,  Printed  by  F.  P. 
Allen  1833."  To  have  had  the  book  printed  at  Philadelphia,  and 
in  better  style,  as  Dr.  Franklin  Bache  suggested,  would  not  have 
been  in  keeping  with  the  conditions  in  which  the  work  Avas  done — - 
in  the  backwoods,  in  camps,  at  prairie  garrisons — and  it  was  char- 
acteristic of  the  man  to  overcome  the  difficulties  of  having  the 
book  published  at  a  small  army  post  of  Northern  New  York. 

To  the  physiologist  Beaumont's  experiments  have  always  had  an 
extraordinary  interest.  In  the  first  place  his  scientific  method  is 
admirable.  As  has  been  remarked  by  Dr.  Combe — "It  would  be 
difficult  to  point  out  any  observer  who  excels  him  in  devotion  to 
truth,  and  freedom  from  the  trammels  of  theory  or  prejudice.  He 
tells  plainly  what  he  saw,  and  leaves  every  one  to  draw  his  own 
inferences;  or,  where  he  lays  down  conclusions,  he  does  so  with  a 
degree  of  modesty  and  fairness  of  which  few  perhaps  in  his  cir- 
cumstances would  have  been  capable. ' '  Beaumont  himself  remarks 
in  the  Preface :  "I  submit  a  body  of  facts  which  can  not  be  invali- 
dated. My  opinions  may  be  doubted,  denied,  or  approved,  accord- 
ing as  they  conflict  or  agree  with  the  opinions  of  each  individual 
who  may  read  them,  but  their  worth  will  be  best  determined  bj^  the 
foundation  on  which  they  rest — the  incontrovertible  facts." 

His  experiments  settled  finally  the  chemical  nature  of  the  diges- 
tive process  so  much  discussed  from  the  days  of  the  fundamental 
experiments  of  Reaumur  (1752)  and  Spallanzani  (1783).  To  ap- 
preciate the  importance  of  Beaumont's  experiments  we  must  read 


XXIV  hiinxlucfion 

contemporary  accounts  of  the  nature  of  stonacli  digestion,  in  which 
the  old  views  of  concoction,  putrefaction,  trituration,  fermentation 
and  maceration  are  all  considered.  Even  before  Reaumur  and 
Spallanzani  shrewd  guesses  Avere  made.  I  came  across  the  other 
day  the  manuscript  notes  of  lectures  on  medicine  of  one  of  my 
seventeenth  century  predecessors  at  Oxford,  whose  quaint  descrip- 
tion of  digestion  is  worth  quoting : 

".  .  .  Thus  then  ye  meate  being  chaw 'd  in  ye  mouth  receives 
ye  first  tincture  from  ye  spittle,  and  going  through  ye  oesophagus 
is  imbued  with  ye  same,  till  in  ye  fundus  of  ye  stomach  it  lyes  in 
a  liquor  of  ye  same  nature  but  greater  activity,  &  being  encom- 
passd  about  by  ye  coate  of  ye  stomach,  it  lyes  in  that  watry  bed 
as  in  its  proper  menstrum :  &  receiving  by  little  &  little  this  pierc- 
ing and  searching  liquor  into  all  its  parts  and  ferments,  and  so 
dissolves  into  a  kind  of  mash,  from  whence  ye  nutrimentall  parts  of 
life  of  ye  meate  are  now  become  easily  separable  from  ye  faeculent. 
Which  being  done,  ye  stomach  having  performed  its  proper  worke, 
by  ye  compression  of  itselfe  sends  it  forth  through  ye  Pylorus 
into  ye  guts,  leaving  a  small  quantity  still  as  ye  remaining  ferment, 
necessary  for  ye  digestion  of  ye  next  meale.  .  .  .  That  such  a 
ferment  belongs  to  ye  stomach  is  clear,  by  ye  stomachs  of  calves, 
which  ye  dayry-maides  use  for  runnet  in  making  cheese :  and 
strong  cheese  is  very  good  for  digestion,  because  it  has  much  of  ye 
runnet,  &  so  adds  a  connaturall  ferment  to  ye  stomach.  This  I 
conceive  to  be  ye  true  Nature  of  digestion,  })y  which  it  appeares  to 
be  no  boyling  or  proper  concoction,  nor  ye  immediate  effect  of  heate, 
but  of  an  acidity,  or  subtle  penetrating  and  fermenting  quality  of 
ye  proper  liquor  of  ye  stomach.  I  conclude  therefore  ye  Digestion 
is  a  Solution  tending  to  Piitrefaction  made  by  ye  way  of  fermen- 
tation." 

Among  other  important  observations  may  be  mentioned  the  con- 
firmation of  the  discovery  by  Prout  of  the  presence  of  hydrochloric 
acid  in  the  gastric  juice ;  the  recognition  that  the  essential  elements 
of  the  gastric  juice  and  the  mucus  secretion  were  separate ;  the 
establishment  by  direct  observation  of  the  profound  influence  of 
mental  disturliances  on  the  secretion  of  the  gastric  juice  and  on 
digestion ;  the  fuller  and  more  accurate  comparative  study  of  di- 
gestion in  the  stomach  with  digestion  outside  the  body ;  the  rapid 
disappearance  of  water  from  the  stomach  through  the  pylorus;  the 
first  comprehensive  and  full  study  of  the  motions  of  the  stomach ; 


Introduction  xxv 

the  study  of  the  digestibility  of  different  articles  of  diet,  which 
remains  today  one  of  the  most  important  contributions  ever  made 
to  practical  dietetics ;  the  relation  between  the  amount  of  food 
taken  and  the  Cjuantity  of  gastric  juice  secreted;  and  many  other 
points,  the  true  significance  of  which  have  not  been  recognized 
until  the  recent  researches  of  Professor  Pavlow. 

The  man  was  greater  than  his  work ;  and  it  is  well  that  the  story 
of  Beaumont's  life  should  be  told  by  a  member  of  the  Profession 
of  the  city  of  which  for  so  many  years  he  was  a  distinguished  orna- 
ment. The  pioneer  physiologist  of  the  United  States  and  the  first 
to  make  a  contribution'  of  enduring  value,  his  work  remains  a 
model  of  patient,  persevering  research.  The  highest  praise  that 
we  can  give  it  is  to  say  that  his  life  fulfilled  the  ideal  with  which 
he  set  out,  and  which  he  so  well  expressed  in  the  sentence  :  ' '  Truth, 
like  beauty,  is  when  unadorned  adorned  the  most,  and  in  prose- 
cuting these  experiments  and  enquiries  I  believe  I  have  been  guided 
by  its  light." 

William  Osler. 


LIFE  AND  LETTEKS  OF  DE.  AMLLIA3I  BEAl  MONT 


CHAPTER  I. 

GENEALOGY. 


The  name  of  Beaumont  has  been  prominent  in  the  annals  of 
French  and  English  history  for  several  centuries.  As  early  as  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century  the  second  son  of  Sir  Roger  Beau- 
uidut  is  said  to  have  stood  high  in  the  favor  of  AVilliam  the 
Couciueror.  and.  though  he  resided  in  Normandy,  received  many 
honors  at  the  hands  of  the  Conciueror.  having  been  made  in  turn 
Constable  of  AVarwick  Castle.  Councillor  to  his  Alajesty.  and  Baron 
of  the  Excheciuer  of  Normandy.  He  was  finally  created  the  first 
Earl  of  AYarwick  by  Y'illiam  the  Red  some  time  after  1085.^  The 
name  was  not  freijuently  encountered  in  English  history,  however. 
until  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when,  following 
the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIA^., 
thousands  of  brave  Huguenots  were  driven  out  of  France  and  found 
refuge  on  foreign  shores.  The  De  Beaumonts  belonged  to  this  brave 
old  stock,  and  found  their  way  to  England,  since  which  time  the 
name  may  be  found  in  practically  every  period  of  English  history 
and  literature  down  to  the  present  day. 

No  effort  has  been  made  on  my  part  to  trace  the  lineage  through 
the  centuries  prior  to  the  appearance  of  the  first  Beaumont  on 
American  soil,  deeming  it  rather  irrelevant  and  not  pi'oductive  ol 
results  proportionate  to  the  endless  difficulties  entailed  in  such  an 
authentic  search. 

The  first  ancestor  on  American  soil  of  whom  we  have  reliable 
knowledge  was  AVilliam  Beamont-  (1).  who  settled  in  Saybrook 
about  16-iO.''  In  an  examination  of  the  old  registers.^  giving  lists 
of  passengers  of  various  vessels  that  sailed  from  Great  Britain  and 


1  "Warwick  Castle  and  Its  Earls."  by  the  Countess  of  Warwick.  1903. 

-  Inasmuch  as  there  was  a  William  or  a  Samuel  in  six  consecutive  genera- 
tions,  each  will  be   identified  in  the  text  by  the  number  after  his  name. 

•'■  Through  the  courtesy  of  the  town  clerks  of  Saybrook,  Deep  River,  and  Leba- 
non. Conn.,  I  have  been  able  to  trace  the  genealogy  of  the  Beaumonts  from 
T\*illiam  of  Saybrook  (1640)   down  to  the  present  day. 

'  The  New  England  historical  and  genealogical  registers. 


2  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

the  first  settlers  of  New  England,  the  names  of  Wni.  and  Jon 
Beamond.^  aged  27  and  23  respectively,  were  found  among  those 
sailing  on  the  "Eliza  de  Lond"  on  April  15,  1635.*'  Just  how  and 
when  William  came  to  Connecticut  is  not  a  matter  of  record,  but, 
inasmuch  as  he  married  Lydia  Danforth,  of  Cambridge,  ]\Iass.,  it 
is  probable  that  he  was  one  of  the  band  of  early  settlers  who  came 
from  Massachusetts  with  John  Winthrope,  Jr.  At  any  rate,  he 
attained  early  prominence  in  the  little  commonwealth,  "for  at  a 
general  Courte  of  Election  in  Hartford  (Conn.)  20th  May.  1652,"' 
he  Avas  chosen  Freeman.  His  name  is  also  found  in  "a  list  of 
names  of  the  Freemen  already  made  in  the  town  of  Say  Brooke 
ye  4th,  8th,  1669.''*  He  became,  therefore,  a  personage  of  con- 
siderable importance  and  wealth  in  the  little  Puritan  community, 
enjoying  as  Freeman  not  only  political  prominence,  but  the  usual 
land  grants  as  well. 

According  to  the  old  land  records  of  Saybrook,"  William  Beamont 
had  seven  children — one  son.  Sanuiel  (1),  and  six  daughters.'" 
It  will  not  be  amiss  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  John  Tully, 
to  whom  "Mary  Beamon"  was  married  on  January  3,  1671,  was 
a  man  of  great  wealth  and  wisdom  in  his  day.  "In  a  list  of  46 
proprietors  of  the  town  conunon  he  was  the  largest  owner  £608  6s 
and  8d."  The  family  record  (juaintly  says  of  him:  "So  greatly 
superior  was  this  man's  education  to  most  of  his  contemporaries 
in  America,  and  so  superstitious  and  ignorant  were  the  connnon 
people  in  the  country,  that  with  them  he  was  reputed  a  conjurer. ^^ 
His  great  wisdom  was  also  indicated  by  the  fact  that  he  edited  an 
almanac.^ - 

Samuel  (1)  married  Hester  Buckingham,  the  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Hester  Buckingham,  whose  headstones  mav  still  be  seen  in  the 


^It  must  be  remembered  that  great  liberty  was  taken  in  those  days  with 
the  spelling  of  proper  names,  and  we  find  therefore  the  name  variously  spelled 
in  the  records — Beaumont,  Beamont,  Beamond,  Beamon.  Bemont.  The  name  of 
John  Davenport,  for  instance,  in  the  old  records  was  sometimes  spelled  Damport 
and  Dampard.  So  great  were  the  discrepancies  in  the  spelling  of  names  that  the 
tracing  of  genealogy  is  thereby  sometimes  rendered  impossible. 

°"The  Original  Lists  of  Persons  of  Quality,  Emigrants,  Religious  Exiles.  Etc., 
WTio  Went  From  Great  Britain  to  the  American  Plantation  1600  to  1700,"  by 
John  Chandler  Holten.  But  one  other  personage  bearing  this  name  was  found — ■ 
namely,  that  of  Thos.  Beamont,  aged  29  years — in  the  list  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  passengers    "to   be   transported   to  Virginia,    imbarqued   in   the  George  Joe.'" 

''"Public  Records  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  Mav,  166.5,"  by  J.  H.  Trumbull. 

8  "History  of  Middlesex  County.   1635-168.5,   Old   Saybrook,"   by  Wm.  Tully. 

8  Saybrook  town  records   (now  preserved   at  Deep  River,    Conn.),   pages  4,   25. 

1"  Deborah  married  Thomas  Gilbert  in  1681.  Abigail  died  in  1683.  Rebecca 
married  John  Clark  in  1684.  Lvdia  married  Samuel  Bovse  in  1667.  Sarah  mar- 
ried Nathaniel  Piatt  in  1688.    Marv  married  John  Tully  in  1671. 

""History  of  Middlesex  County"    (Conn.).   163.5-1S85. 

'^''By  John  Tully,  Boston.  Printed  by  Benjamin  Harris  at  the  London  Coffee 
House,   1693.     (Possession   of  town  clerk  of  Lebanon.) 


William  Beamont  of  Say-Brook  3 

interesting  old  Cypress  Cemetery  out  on  Saybrook  Point,  not  far 
from  the  original  site  of  the  old  fort  constructed  by  the  Puritan 
fathers.  In  this  fort  died  Lady  George  Fenwick,  said  to  be  the 
first  white  woman  to  die  on  American  soil.  If  one  visits  the  old 
burying  grounds  today,  hers  is  the  first  quaint  monument  that  greets 
the  eye.  But  one  looks  in  vain  for  a  remnant  of  the  inscription 
that  might  indicate  the  resting  place  of  the  first  of  the  Beaumont 
line  in  America.^"  The  tombs  of  the  Buckinghams  are,  however, 
readily  found  and  the  inscription  is  easily  deciphered :  ' '  Here  Lyes 
y  Body  of  the  Revd.  Mr.  Thomas  Buckingham,  Pastor  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  in  Saybrook.  Deed.  April  7.  1709,  in  63rd  yr.  of  his 
age."  The  wife  had  died  in  the  same  year  at  56  years  of  age.  ]\Ir. 
Buckingham  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  great  repute,  for  he  was 
"one  of  the  founders  of  Yale  College^*  and  of  the  Saybrook  Plat- 
form. ' ' 

Abiding  by  the  old  English  custom,  Samuel's  (1)  father  left  him 
practically  all  of  his  holdings  in  a  "deed  of  gift"  executed  in  1687 
before  John  Allen,  "one  of  the  council  of  his  Majesties,  in  his 
Territory  of  New  England,"  probably  at  the  time  of  Samuel's 
marriage.  The  old  deed  is  still  preserved  in  the  Saybrook  records, 
and  is  reproduced  here  in  great  part,  since  this  estate  was  the  foun- 
dation of  the  holdings  of  future  generations : 

To  all  people  &c:  I  William  Beamont  of  Say-Brook  in  the  County  of 
New  London  send  greeting,  Know  ye  that  I  the  said  William  Beamont  as 
well  for  and  in  Consideration  of  the  naturall  affection  and  love  which  I 
have  and  bear  unto  my  well-beloved  son  Samuell  Beamont  of  Say-Brook 
aforesaid  as  also  for  other  good  causes  &  Considerations  me  at  this 
present  especially  moveing.  Have  given  &  granted  and  by  these  presents  do 
give  grant  and  confirm  unto  the  said  Samuell  Beamont  The  one  half  of 
my  now  dwelling  house,  and  the  one  half  of  my  bam,  and  the  one  half  of 
my  orchard  and  homstead  in  the  town  plat  of  Say-Brook  upon  which  my 
house  and  Barn  now  standeth,  together  with  the  one  half  of  all  other  my 
lands  both  upland  &  meadow  belonging  to  Say-Brook.  To  say  the  one- 
half  of  each  and  every  parcell  of  upland  and  meadow,  as  they  are  bounded^ 
in  the  records  of  Say-Brook,  also  I  do  give  unto  my  said  son  as  aforesaid 
two  steers,  each  of  them  one  year  old  and  the  vantage,  one  black  one  with 
a  white  face,  and  one  brindled  one,  as  also  one  feather  bed  &  bolster  given 
him  by  my  wife  before  her  decease.  ...  In  Witness  whereof  I  have 
hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seale  this  seven  &  twentieth  dav  of  January  irt 


1"  The  inscriptions  could  not  be  deciphered  on  more  than  half  of  the  old 
headstones. 

1*  Yale  College  was  founded  at  Saybrook  and  afterward  moved  to  New  Haven. 
A  large  bowlder,  on  which  is  an  inscription,  marks  the  site  of  the  original 
structure,   adjoining  the  old  cemetery. 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUienn  Beeiumejnt 


U^  9-*^^---^  n-i/V-  At)  fiU  S*^^    ^' 


d-C^fApf*' 


ofc  i^e: 


(lam 


0  /W  .rW^^.&-^^-£r:  ^...Ty^.-J'^.^^-^  .^>^^>^ 


^  -  ow^^  .;^^.- p^;.  w-n  ^  ev^*^/"^  -r^ 


^>.v> 


Me  to-    /M*  ;     .- 


.y^r 


W  ^tJftj  J'-h  JJ&yllh 


m: 


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V.-'J 


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Ovio-inal  of  deed  of  sift  of  ^\'illiMm  Beamont,  of  Sayhrook.  lo  lii>  >..ii  Samuel 
in  ?687conve^i^g  certain  real  and  personal  property.  (Fi-om  the  town  records 
of  Old  Saybrook,  now  at  Deep  River,  Conn.) 


Deed  of  Gift  to  His  Son  5 

the  third  year  of  the  reigne  of  our  Souvraign  Lord  James  the  Second  King 
of  England  &c.  anno.  1687.  William  Beamoxt. 

Two  years  later  the  following  codicil  was  added : 

The  above  said  William  Beamont  hath  maid  over  unto  his  son  Samll 
Beamont  Immediately  after  his  decease  to  enter  upon  and  take  possession 
off  the  other  half  of  his  dwelling  house  barn  orchard  lands  both  uplands 
&  meadows  in  the  township  of  Say-Brooke  with  all  the  priviledges  &  Im- 
munities thereunto  belonging,  also  his  Team  that  is  to  say  one  yoake  of 
oxen  (viz.)  one  red  and  one  pide  ox:  with  all  utensiles  thereunto  belong- 
ing or  in  any  wise  appertaining  as  well  to  the  sd  Teams  as  to  Husbandry, 
And  also  his  great  table  in  the  parlour,  and  also  one  Rugg,  Two  blankets 
and  one  pair  of  sheets  without  any  Incumbrance  of  Debt  or  Debts,  legacie 
or  legacies  to  be  paid  by  the  said  Samuell,  Also  the  said  William  Beamont 
in  the  presence  of  the  witnesses  whose  hands  are  to  this  deed  of  gift  doth 
deliver  to  his  son  Samll  Beamont  one  yoake  of  oxen  belonging  to  the 
above  said  Teams  as  his  own  proper  estate. i3     .     .     . 

William  (1)  Beamont  died  in  February,  1698/'^  and  Lydia,  his 
wife,  on  August  26.  1686. 

As  a  result  of  Samuel's  (1)  marriage  to  Hester  Buckingham, 
record  is  found  of  four  children — Samuel,  Jr.,  (2)  and  three  sisters.^^ 
The  son  married  Abigail  Dennison  on  January  27,  1716.  In  this 
case  the  entire  estate  had  not  been  deeded  to  the  son,  but  was  dis- 
tributed. The  probabilities  are,  therefore,  that  his  holdings  were 
small,  and  that  he  became  a  tiller  of  the  soil,  though  nothing  is 
definitely  known  of  his  vocation  or  attainments.  From  this  union 
there  were  again  four  children — ^AA^illiam  (2),  Samuel  (3),  and  two 
sisters. ^^  William,  who  is  next  in  line,  was  born  in  1725,  and  when 
he  became  of  age  left  Saybrook,  deeding  his  share  in  the  old  home 
to  his  brother  Samuel. ^^  and  located  in  Lebanon,  Conn.  On  Decem.- 
ber  29,  1747,  he  married  Sarah  Everett,  of  AA^indham,-"  established 

1=  The  estate  in  that  day  was  not  a  small  one,  for  the  "uplands  and  meadows" 
included   such   items   as:     "My   house   and   home   lot    of   .5    ack.   abutting-  east   to 

the    lands    of    francis    hushnell.    south    to    the    cove,    west    to   Master   .    north 

to  highway.  6  Ackers  of  upland  hi  the  old  oxpasture  abutting  east  to  the  meadow, 
south  to  lands  of  master  fenwick,  west  to  a  highway,  north  to  the  land  of  John 
Clark  Junior.  7  Ackers  and  half  of  meadow  abutting  west  to  the  land  aforesaid, 
east  to  the  cove  south  to  the  meadow  of  master  fenwick.  4  Ackers  of  upland  lying 
in  the  thousand  Ack.  abutting  east  and  north  to  highway,  south  to  lands  of  John 
"Westall,  west  to  the  land  of  Richard  — ■ — .  3  Ackers  of  land  in  the  planting 
field  abutting  east  to  a  swamp  and  south  to  lands  of  Will  Hide  and  highway 
next  to  the  lands  of  John  Clark  Senior.  My  Right  in  the  town  Commons  belong- 
ing to  an  estate  of  two  hundred  pounds.  My  Right  in  the  oxpasture  belonging  to 
an  estate  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds."  (Saybrook  town  records,  vol.  I, 
page  3.) 

1"  Saybrook  town  records,  vol.  I.  pages  4.  2.5. 

1"  Deborah  married  Benjamin  Ingham.  Hester  married  Benjamin  Doty,  Anne 
married  "William  Tully.     (Saybrook  town  records,  vol.  IV,  page  382.) 

^^  Lydia  and  Abigail. 

1"  Saybrook  town  records,  vol.  VIII.  page  326. 

=**  Windham  records  of  marriage,  vol.  I;  record  of  First  Congregational 
Church.   Lebanon,  Conn.,   member,   July  19,   1752. 


6  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

a  home,  and  seems  to  have  acquired  considerable  of  this  world's 
goods,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  Lebanon  land  records,  which  show 
many  transfers  to  him.-^ 

"William  (2)  and  Sarah  had  nine  children — five  sons  and  four 
daughters — William  (3),  Samuel  (4),  Isaiah,  Oliver,  Dan,  Anne, 
Sarah.  Lydia.  and  Abigail,  whose  births  and  baptisms  are  a  matter 
of  record  in  the  archives  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  of 
Lebanon--  and  in  Kingslej^'s  record.-" 

Samuel  (4)  is  destined  to  become  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
narrative,  and  it  is  he  in  Avhom  we  are  more  especially  interested. 
We  have  been  able  to  gather  practically  no  information  concerning 
him,  his  early  schooling,  his  habits  or  traits.  AYe  know  only  that 
during  his  school  boy  days  there  was  in  Lebanon  a  notable  school 
conducted  by  Master  Nathan  Tisdale.  The  school  is  said  to  have 
become  so  well  and  favorably  known  that  pupils  came  from 
the  West  Indies  and  from  nine  of  the  thirteen  colonies,-*  and  in 
many  cases  its  certificates  ^vere  accepted  in  lieu  of  examination  for 
admission  to  Yale.  In  this  little  brick  schoolhouse  the  training  of 
many  illustrious  men  began,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Colonel 
John  Trumbull.  Governor  Trumbull.  Judge  Simeon  Baldwin,  Eev. 
Dr.  Lyman,  and  others.  AMiether  Samuel  Beamont  (4)  took  ad- 
vantage of  these  educational  opportunities  we  do  not  know. 

As  he  was  growing  to  manhood,  the  results  of  "taxation  without 
representation"  were  making  themselves  felt  in  the  colonies,  and 
when  the  crisis  came  he  and  his  brothers  were  among  the  first  ' '  who 
marched  from  Lebanon  to  the  Relief  of  ye  country  in  the  alarm  at 
Lexington  and  Concord."  Samuel  enlisted  for  a  period  of  three 
years-^  under  Captain  Dan  Tilden.  and  marched  from  home  on 
Saturday,  April  22,  1775.-*'  He  was  afterward  made  corporal,  and 
saw  much  active  service.  At  the  expiration  of  his  first  three  years' 
enlistment  he  joined  the  commissioned  and  noncommissioned  officers 
of  Colonel  Sam  ]\IcClellan's  regiment  in  a  petition  to  the  General 


a  Vol.  LX.  pages,  84,  335,  344.  365;  vol.  X.  pages  ITS,  259.  414,  531;  vol.  XII, 
pages  320.  331. 

22  Anne  born  September  15.  1749;  Sarah  born  May  31.  1751;  William  born  March 
26.  1753;  Samuel  born  February  28.  1755;  Isaiah  born  May  23.  1757;  Lydia  born 
May  23.  1757;  Oliver  born  May  16.  1759;  Abigail  born  August  20.  1761;  Dan  born 
April  20.   1763. 

^  Walter  G.  Kingsley.  for  many  years  town  clerk  of  Lebanon,  with  great 
care  compiled  various  records  of  Lebanon  and  surrounding  townships,  including 
family  records.     His  efforts  represent  about  five  hundred  pages  of  manuscript. 

=*  "A  Historical  Discourse.  Norwich.  Conn. — Bicentennial  Celebration,"  bv 
Daniel  Coit  Oilman.  1859,  page  122. 

^Lebanon  sent  of  her  sons.  106.  Six  enlisted  for  three  months,  12  enlisted 
for  nine  months,  and  88  enlisted  for  three  years. 

^  "Collections  of  the  Connecticut  Historical  Society,"  vol.  VTII,  pages  2,  3. 


War  of  the  Revolution  7 

Assembly  of  Connecticut,  sitting  at  Hartford  in  1778,  for  higher 
pay.     Their  petition  claimed : 

That  We  Were  Raised  while  an  Act  of  this  State  was  Existing,  Regu- 
lating the  Prices  of  Labor,  Produce,  etc.,  and  upon  the  Faith  and  Footing 
of  said  Act  and  had  such  wages  and  Allowances  as  while  Said  Act  con- 
tinued were  Just  and  Reasonable.  But  that  since  Said  Act  has  been  Re- 
pealed, the  Prices  of  the  Various  Necessaries  of  Life  are  so  enhanced  as 
that  Our  Wages  and  Allowances  are  by  No  Means  an  Adequate  Reward 
for  Our  Services.  We,  therefore.  Pray  Your  Honors  to  take  Our  Case  into 
your  Wise  Consideration  and  grant  Such  an  Addition  to  our  Wages  and 
Allowances  as  Shall  be  adequate  to  the  reward  we  expected  when  we 
Enlisted  Said  Service.  Justice  is  all  we  Ask.  Wee  doubt  not  your  Honors 
will  Grant  our  Reasonable  Request  and  Wee  as  in  Duty  Bound  Shall  Ever 
Pray.     .     .     . 

The  pay  that  he  was  receiving  at  that  time  is  found  recorded  as 
follows : 

Dr.  Colony.  To  Wages  &  Billeting,  of  sundry  Officers  and  Soldiers, 
etc.     Samuel  Bemont,  Corp.  wages  1  £,  17  sh.  o  p. 

At  the  expiration  of  this  time  he  again  enlisted  for  a  period  of 
three  years  in  Captains  Hart's  and  Rudd's  companies.-' 

His  brother  AVilliam,  a  member  of  Captain  Dorrance's  company, 
was  promoted  to  sergeant,  quartermaster,  ensign,  and  finally  to 
lieutenant  in  1779,  and  was  a  member  of  ' '  The  Society  of  the  Cin- 
cinnati."-® Dan  enlisted  in  Captain  Richard's  company  and  was 
wounded  at  Princeton.  AVhile  I  could  find  no  record  of  Oliver's 
enlistment,  he  unquestionably  served,  for  his  name  is  to  be  found 
among  the  list  of  pensioners  living  in  New  York.-*  There  is  some 
doubt  as  to  whether  the  father  of  these  five  sons  served  his  country 
during  the  Revolution,  since  no  definite  record  can  be  found  of  his 
enlistment,  and,  being  50  years  of  age  when  the  war  commenced, 
he  was  exempt.  Whether  he  fought  is  a  matter  of  little  conse- 
quence ;  his  courage  and  patriotism  are  clearly  reflected  in  his  five 
sons.  After  the  war  they  returned  to  Lebanon,-**  and  in  due  time 
married  and  established  homes,  Samuel  (4)  marrying  Lucretia 
Abel. 


=^  "Record  of  Service  of  Connecticut  Men  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution,"  com- 
piled by  the  authorization  of  the  General  Assembly,  pages  229,  230. 

^  Statement  in  letter  from  Mrs.  Lydia  Brown  to  Mrs.  Sarah  Beaumont  Keim 
In  1892. 

^  WMlliam,  Dan,  and  Oliver  migrated  to  New  York  state.  William  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  of  the  township  of  Champlain  in  Clinton  county,  where  he  en- 
dured all  the  hardships  incident  to  pioneer  life.  In  1804  he  was  made  the  first 
supervisor  of  the  town  of  Moores,  and  owned  the  Shedden  water  privileges.  He 
married  Mary  (or  Polly)  Wright,  of  Phillipstown  (elsewhere  called  Fishkill), 
N.  Y.  Their  son  Samuel  Beaumont  was  afterward  Intimately  associated  with 
Dr.  W^illiam  Beaumont  at  Plattsburgh  in  his  epoch-making  work. 


8  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

Their  father  lived  to  the  ripe  old  age  of  four  score  and  seven, 
dying  in  1812.  Ills  remains  lie  in  the  ancient  Seovilie  cemetery 
near  Lebanon,  and  on  his  tomb  one  may  read  the  inscription : 
"William  Beaumont  third  in  descent  from  William  Beaumont  of 
Saybrook  and  fourth  in  maternal  line  from  Nicholas  Danforth  of 
Cambridge.  Mass.  Second  from  Thomas  Buckingham.  Pastor  in 
Saybrook,  Born  in  Saybrook,  the  son  of  Sanniel  Beaumont  and 
Abigail  Denison.  Died  A.  D.  1812,  ae.  87.  Sarah  Everit.  his  wife 
died  A.  D.  1813,  ae.  92."  Shortly  after  his  death  ""at  a  Court 
holden  at  Windham,  Sept.  2.  1812.  Samuel  Beaumont  is  apptd.  Sole 
Executor  of  the  last  Will  and  Testament,"  and  to  him  is  left  the 
bulk  of  the  estate.  To  the  other  children  or  their  heirs  he  gives 
small  sums  of  money,  while  "to  his  beloved  son  Samuel""  he  be- 
queaths all  of  his  "land  lying  in  Lebanon  Village,"^"  which,  as  we 
have  seen  from  the  records,  was  considerable.  Samuel  (4)  therefore 
became  a  thriving  farmer^^  and  "an  active  politician  of  the  proud 
old  Jeflferson  School,  whose  highest  boast  was  his  firm  support 
and  strict  adherence  to  the  principles  he  advocated."''-  He,  too. 
reared  a  large  family  of  children — Samuel  (5),  Lucretia,  William 
(4),  Lucy,  Abel,  Anne.  ]\Iary,  John,  and  Abigail — and  gave  to  them, 
no  doubt,  such  opportunities  as  were  offered  by  this  small  New 
England  community  a  few  years  after  the  Revolutionary  War. 
William,  the  third  child,  grasped  a  great  opportunity,  and,  by  his 
unselfish  devotion  to  high  scientific  ideals,  became  an  immortal 
character  in  medical  annals  and  is  the  subject  of  our  narrative. 

On  the  opposite  page  is  shown  the  lineage  of  the  Beaumont  fam- 
ily from  William  Beamont.  who  came  to  America  from  England 
about  1635.  settling  eventually  at  Saybrook.  Connecticut,  to  William 
Beaumont,  the  subject  of  this  volume. 


Lineage  of  the  Beaumont  Family 


Lineage. 


William  Beamo^'t 

I 
m.  Lydia  Daxfoetii 

(Cambridge,  Mass.) 


Samuel,  Deborah,  Abigail,  Rebecca,  Lydia,  Mary,  Sarah. 
1 
m.  Hester  Bl'ckixghaim 

(Saybrook,  Conn.) 


S.amlt;l,  Anne,  Hester,  Deborah. 
I 
m.  Abigail  Dex^isox 

in  1716. 


Y7:lliam    (b.  1725),  Lydia,  Samuel,  Abigail. 
I 
m.  Sarah  Everett 

(Windham,  Conn.) 

in  1747. 


Anne,  Sarah,  William,  Samuel  (b. 175.5 ) ,  Isaiah  and  Lydia  ( twins ) ,  Oliver,  Abigail,  Dan. 
m.  Llcretia  Acel. 


Samuel,  Lucretia,  WILLIAM  (b.  1785),  Lucy,  Abel,  Anne,  Mary,  John,  Abigail. 
I 
m.  Deborah  Green  Platt 

(Plattsburgh,  N.  Y.) 

in  1821. 


CHAPTER  II. 

1785-1806. 

AVilliani  Beaumont,  the  third  child  of  Samuel,  was  born  Novemher 
21,  1785,  just  about  the  time  the  little  "society''  was  beginning  to 
recover  from  the  embarrassed  condition  in  which  it  found  itself  at 
the  close  of  the  Revolution.  Lebanon  had  been  a  point  of  con- 
siderable importance  during  the  war,  for  here  the  Council  of  Safety 
held  many  meetings  in  the  old  war  office,  the  headquarters  of 
Governor  Jonathan  Trumbull,  and  here  General  AVashington  and 
"Brother  Jonathan"  held  frequent  consultations  concerning  the 
aflPairs  of  the  nation.  Lebanon  had  given  freely  of  men  and  money, 
and,  like  many  other  townships.^  had  gone  into  the  contest  with 
such  absorbing  interest  as  to  cause  her  to  wholly  neglect  her  local 
afifairs.  The  schools  and  meeting-houses  had  decayed,  and  there 
was  no  mone}^  left  for  the  employment  of  teachers  and  ministers. 
There  was  no  time  either  to  devote  to  these  refinements,  as  struggles 
for  food  and  clothing  and  other  necessities  of  life  were  claiming 
their  entire  attention. 

A  very  fair  idea  of  the  conditions  that  i)revailed  at  Lebanon 
during  Beaumont's  boyhood  may  still  be  gained  by  a  visit,  for  there 
has  been  surprisingly  little  change  in  the  community  since  those 
far-off  days.  On  arriving  at  the  miniature  railway  station,  nothing 
greets  the  eye  save  the  rocky  hills  of  old  Lebanon,  with  here  and 
there  the  chimney  of  a  farm  house.  A  rough  ride  of  a  few  miles 
in  a  cart,  however,  brings  the  traveler  to  the  quaint  old  village. 

The  "first  society"  comprised  five  square  miles,  of  which  the 
meeting-house  was  the  center  from  which  all  the  distances  were 
reckoned,  and  here  the  village  proper  is  built  about  the  town  com- 
mon, an  uninteresting,  uncultivated  stretch  of  ground  "thirty  rods 
wide,"  at  either  end  of  which  is  a  meeting-house,  and  roundabout 
a  post  office,  a  store  or  two,  and  a  score  of  well-preserved  clapboard 
houses.  Among  these  are  the  old  revolutionary  war  office ;  the  home 
of  Jonathan  Trumbull,  Connecticut's  first  governor;  the  house  in 
which  resided  Hon.  William  Williams,  a  signer  of  the  declaration 
of  independence ;  the  AVells  Place,  built  in  1712,  and  many  other  old 
edifices   which   were   among  the   earliest  recollections   of  William 


1  Historical  addres-s  by  Ashbel  Woodwaid.   "History  of   Franklin.   Conn." 

10 


1785-1806 — Beaumont's  Boyhood  11 

Beaumont.  In  those  days  the  township  could  boast  of  a  population 
of  almost  four  thousand,-  by  far  the  greater  number  of  whom  were 
farmers.  The  farms  were  necessarily  small,  the  surface  was  very 
rocky  and  hilly,  not  especially  productive,  and  the  boundaries  of 
the  farms  were  marked  by  trees,  rivulets,  or  crude  stone  walls,  such 
as  one  may  still  see  in  this  primitive  community. 

The  life  of  the  frugal  New  England  farmer  at  the  close  of  the 
Revolution  has  been  graphically  described  by  McMaster,"  furnishing 
an  excellent  idea  of  the  life  young  Beaumont  must  have  led  on  his 
father's  farm  until  he  attained  his  majority.  At  that  time  the 
Connecticut  farmer  plowed  his  land  with  wooden  plows  drawn  by 
oxen,  sowed  his  grain  broadcast  by  hand,  cut  it  with  a  scythe,  and 
threshed  out  the  grain  \x\\\\  the  old-fashioned  flail.  A¥hen  his  day's 
work  was  done  he  made  his  meal  of  pork  and  beans,  salt  fish,  succo- 
tash, dried  fruits,  and  Indian  puddings.  In  the  winter  evenings 
he  dozed,  or  read  by  candle  light  in  front  of  the  great  fireplace, 
which,  "sending  half  the  smoke  into  the  apartment,  sent  half  the 
heat  up  the  chimney ; ' '  his  reading  was  confined  to  a  small  shelf  of 
old  books,  or  an  occasional  newspaper  which  found  its  way  into  the 
home,  possibly  "wrapped  about  a  bundle;"  his  clothes  were  home- 
spun, and  of  the  sort  that  never  wore  out. 

Beaumont's  father  was  a  stanch  Democrat  and  patriot,  and  it 
was  natural  that  his  leanings  should  have  been  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. His  parents  were  Congregationalists,  but  I  could  find  no 
evidence  in  the  old  church  records^  that  young  Beaumont  ever 
became  a  member  of  the  church.  AA^hen,  however,  the  roll  of  the 
drum  announced  the  approaching  hour  of  worship,  he  was  among 
those  who  slowly  wended  their  way  over  the  hills  on  foot  or  on 
horseback  to  the  old  meeting-house ;  the  men  in  powdered  wigs, 
elaborate  waistcoats,  and  knee  breeches — the  women  in  powder  and 
patches,  and  the  typical  colonial  dress.  He  was  compelled  to  go  to 
church  with  such  regularity  that  in  after  years  he  often  explained 
his  nonattendance  by  the  statement  that  as  a  boy  he  had  made  up 
for  a  lifetime. 

There  are  no  means  of  knowing  how  he  ranked  at  school,  though 
it  is  quite  certain  he  was  not  idle.     Alaster  Tisdale,  who  for  almost 


-Today  there  are  about  2,000  inhabitants  In  the  township. 

3  A  "History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,"  by  John  Bach  McMaster. 

*  Record  of  First  Congregational  Church  of  Lebanon  (in  possession  of  the 
town  clerk).  Among  the  admissions  I  could  find  those  of  Jonathan  Trumbull 
(1730),  Sarah  Beaumont  (1752),  Nathan  Tisdale  (1784),  wife  of  Samuel  Beaumont 
(1793),   etc. 


12  Life  and  Letters  eif  Dr.  WlUiam  Beau>iiu)tt 

forty  years  had  conducted  the  school  that  had  made  Lebanon  famous 
in  New  England,  died  in  1787.  when  young  Beaumont  was  but  two 
years  of  age,  and  the  high  character  of  the  school  suffered  greatly 
with  the  death  of  its  founder  and  benefactor.  The  financial  state 
of  the  community  is  best  .shown  by  the  fact  that  Tisdale  died  in 
abject  poverty,  after  having  been  denied  by  the  proprietors  of  the 
school  the  few  pounds  of  pension  that  might  have  relieved  his 
pecuniary  embarra.ssment.  We  have  no  reason  for  believing  that 
after  this  period  the  school  was  above  the  average  of  New  England 
common  schools  in  general,  or  that  Beaumont's  opportunities  were 
different  from  those  of  other  lads  of  his  day. 

Practically  nothing  is  known  of  his  boyhood  tendencies,  excepting 
that  courage  and  fearlessness  were  always  predominant  qualities. 
Even  as  a  small  boy,  as  the  result  of  a  banter  between  him  and  some 
of  his  playmates  as  to  who  could  stand  nearest  a  cannon  that  was 
being  fired,  he  developed  defective  hearing,  which  as  he  grew  older 
became  more  and  more  pronounced. 

It  seems  odd  indeed,  considering  the  great  care  with  which  he 
preserved  in  writing  the  knowledge  of  all  the  circumstances  and 
events  of  his  adult  life,  that  not  a  single  incident  of  his  boyhood 
should  have  been  permanently  recorded  by  him.  A  thorough  search 
of  the  archives  preserved  at  Lebanon  failed  to  reveal  a  single  fact 
concerning  his  youth,  save  what  one  could  glean  in  a  general  way 
from  the  study  of  the  history  of  the  period  during  which  he  lived 
there.  There  are  not  even  reminiscences  current  in  his  boyhood 
home  that  give  us  the  least  insight  into  that  period  of  his  life. 

As  he  was  approaching  his  majority,  there  occurred  in  Lebanon 
an  incident  that  must  have  been  indelibly  impressed  upon  his  mind, 
known  as  the  " ]Meeting-house  War."  It  seems  that  when  Lebanon 
was  organized  as  a  town  in  1697  it  was  agreed  that  a  choice  lot  near 
the  center  of  the  township  be  reserved  for  a  parsonage  and  meeting- 
house, to  be  "fixed  and  established  forever,"  in  order  to  prevent  any 
trouble  in  future  years  that  might  come  out  of  the  growth  of  the 
village.  In  spite  of  this  understanding,  several  attempts  were  made 
in  after  years  to  move  the  meeting-house  to  a  northern  point,  and 
on  several  occasions  the  General  Assembly  sent  conunittees  to  in- 
vestigate the  claims  of  the  quarreling  factions.  In  1801  it  was  agreed 
to  remove  the  house  of  worship  to  a  point  a  mile  farther  north,  and 
the  tearing-down  process  Avas  begun  by  the  contractors.  The  sight 
of  the  demolishing  of  the  old,  sacred  structure  again  stirred  the 


1785-1806— Historical  Events  13 

feelings  of  those  opposed  to  its  removal.  AA^rits  were  obtained, 
workmen  arrested,  and  finally  a  general  struggle  began  between  the 
two  factions.  Mingled  Avith  all  this  religions  strife,  political  feuds 
began  to  manifest  themselves,  and  the  bitter  political  war  between 
the  old  "stalwart  Federalists"  and  the  "fierce  Democracy"  under 
Jefferson's  administration  was  carried  into  the  camp.  The  "Su- 
preme Court  of  Errors"  was  finally  called  upon  and  decided  that 
the  meeting-house  should  be  rebuilt  on  its  old  site.  "Whether 
William  Beaumont  took  any  particular  interest  in  these  petty  local 
strifes,  we  do  not  know,  but  that  he  began  about  this  time  to  be 
much  interested  in  national  affairs  is  quite  certain. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  he  was  a  studious 
lad  of  fifteen  summers.  Not  only  had  he  made  the  best  of  his 
common  school  education,  but  newspapers  and  magazines,  which 
were  rapidly  multiplying  in  New  England  and  now  numbered  about 
three  hundred,  conveyed  to  his  receptive  young  mind  knowledge  of 
the  vast  progress  of  the  world  beyond  his  little  horizon.  John 
Adams  had  just  completed  his  administration,  having  narrowly 
averted  war  with  France,  and  the  Federal  party,  twelve  years  in 
control,  was  passing  forever  out  of  power.  Thomas  Jefferson  had 
succeeded  to  the  presidency,  and  his  administration  was  ushered  in 
with  every  evidence  of  the  great  progress  that  the  country  was 
making.  The  states  were  rapidly  taking  an  important  place  among 
the  nations  of  the  world,  the  population  had  passed  the  five  million 
mark,  the  constitution  had  received  recognition  as  the  supreme  law 
of  the  land,  and  American  laAv  in  general  had  been  placed  on  a  firm 
and  enduring  basis.  Exports  in  the  past  decade  had  grown  enor- 
mously, post  offices  were  being  established  at  every  point,  and  Avithin 
ten  years  had  increased  in  number  from  seventy-five  to  nine  hun- 
dred. Napoleon  had  just  made  himself  First  Consul,  and  was 
preparing  to  send  an  army  to  New  Orleans  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing  his  authority  there,  but,  meeting  with  serious  objection 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States  and  realizing  the  importance  of 
retaining  her  friendship,  he  desisted  from  carrying  out  this  project. 
Just  three  years  later  Edward  Livingston  and  James  Monroe  nego- 
tiated the  purchase  of  the  Louisiana  tract  of  more  than  a  million 
sc^uare  miles.  Jefferson's  second  administration  witnessed  the 
beginning  of  the  aggression  of  England's  navy  on  American  com- 
merce, and  the  seeds  of  the  War  of  1812,  in  which  our  lad  was  to 
take  an  important  part,  had  already  been  sown. 


14  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^yilliam  Beaumont 

These  were  some  of  the  factors  that  were  influencing  young 
Beaumont's  mind  in  the  formative  period,  between  the  ages  of 
fifteen  and  twenty-one.  As  the  knowledge  of  the  larger  world  came 
to  him  in  his  puritanical  country  home,  there  seemed  to  him  neither 
incentive  nor  opportunity  in  such  surroundings  to  add  his  mite  to 
the  history  that  was  being  made.  Tilling  of  the  soil  and  church- 
going  were  not  entirely  to  his  liking,  and  he  became  restive,  awaiting 
only  the  time  Avhen  he  could  depart  from  his  paternal  roof  as  his 
own  lord  and  master. 


CHAPTER  III. 

1806-1812. 

Prompted  by  that  feeling  of  restless  ambition  that  seems  to 
have  pervaded  his  whole  life,  by  a  desire  to  enlarge  his  field  of 
usefulness  and  to  gain  a  wider  knowledge  of  the  world,  he  left  his 
father's  roof  in  the  winter  of  1806-7,  though  his  father  offered  him 
a  splendid  farm  near  his  own  if  he  would  remain.  With  an  outfit 
consisting  of  a  horse  and  cutter,  a  barrel  of  cider,  and  $100  of  hard- 
earned  money,^  he  started  northwardly  without  any  particular 
destination,  traversing  the  sparsely  settled  western  part  of  Massa- 
chusetts and  Vermont,  arriving  in  the  spring  of  1807  at  the  little 
village  of  Champlain,  in  New  York,  only  a  few  miles  from  the 
Canadian  frontier. 

Champlain  was  at  this  time  a  post  township,  beautifully  situated 
on  the  Great  Chazy  River,  a  few  miles  from  the  picturesque  shores 
of  Lake  Champlain,  and  consisted  of  a  "  post  office  and  a  handsome 
collection  of  houses,  with  some  mills,"  for  the  Great  Chazy  abounded 
in  fine  mill  streams  and  mill  sites.  The  thousand  or  less  inhabitants 
were  mostly  farmers,  "peaceable  and  industrious  in  general,"  and, 
we  are  reliably  informed,  "the  state  of  improvement  in  agriculture 
is  comparatively  respectable. ' '  The  winters  were  long  and  severe, 
with  from  one  to  three  feet  of  snow  covering  the  earth  for  five  and 
six  months  in  succession,  Avhich  fact,  according  to  the  "Gazetteer,"- 
had  a  very  salutary  eff'ect  on  the  morals  and  industry  of  the  time 
and  place.  "The  rigors  of  an  inland  climate  in  the  latitude  of 
45°  N.  leave  little  time  for  the  lassitude  of  idleness  or  dissipation, 
a  circumstance  friendly  to  moral  virtues  and  to  vigor  of  the  bod}^ 
and  mind." 

Be  that  as  it  may,  whether  the  virtue  and  vigor  of  these  frontiers- 
men were  inherent  qualities  or  the  result  of  their  environment,  both 
the  people  and  the  country  appealed  to  young  Beaumont,  for  here 
he  ungirded  his  loins  and  began  to  break  ground  for  future  fame 
and  success.  Inasmuch  as  farming  was  not  to  his  liking,  it  became 
necessary  for  him  to  seek  a  new  vocation.  He  had  been  educated  in 
one  of  the  best  common  schools  in  all  New  England,  whereas  common 


1  From  a  short   biographic  sketch  supposedly  written  by  Israel  Green  Beau- 
mont,  son  of  Dr.   Beaumont. 

-"New  York  Gazetteer,"  by  Horatio  Gates  Spafford,  1813,  pages  69,  70. 

15 


16  Lifi    (Uid  Ldt'rs  of  Dr.  WiUiain   Ihauiiiont 

.scliool  education  in  New  York  was  still  very  deficient''  and  nmcli 
behind  the  New  England  states.  It  was,  then,  (juite  natural  that, 
coming  as  he  did  from  one  of  the  fountainheads  of  common  school 
learning,  he  should  apply  to  the  trustees  for  an  opportunity  to 
inculcate  into  the  minds  of  their  offspring  some  of  his  New  England 
knowledge.  AVe  are  informed  that  "he  soon  gained  the  people's 
confidence  and  was  intrusted  with  their  village  school,  which  he 
conducted  for  about  three  years."  Authentic  information  con- 
cerning his  career  as  a  schoolmaster  can  not  be  obtained,  as  the 
to^vn  records  of  Champlain  were  destroyed  in  1857  and  the  school 
records  in  a  later  fire.  It  is  not.  however,  difficult  to  imagine  the 
life  this  courageous,  determined  young  fellow  led  in  this  isolated 
town  in  the  wilds  of  northern  New  York  state,  teaching  the  lads  and 
las.sies  in  the  "little  red  school-house"  the  rudiments  of  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic. 

On  xVugust  23,  1807,  he  wrote  his  father  :^ 

I  have  the  honor  of  informing  you  of  my  health  and  prosperity,  with 
which  I  am  blessed  beyond  my  expectation.  I  continue  well  satisfied  with 
this  place,  my  employment,  and  encouragements.  I  have  enjoyed  a  good 
state  of  health  since  my  arrival  in  this  town,  with  a  sufficient  supply  of 
business.  I  have,  by  the  earnest  solicitations  of  the  people,  commenced 
on  the  third  quarter  in  the  school,  on  terms  as  usual.  I  have  been  for 
three  months  past  employed  (while  out  of  school)  in  the  store,  for  which 
I  am  amply  rewarded.  The  rumor  of  war  is  very  alarming  to  this  Northern 
people,  as  it  appears  almost  inevitable.  From  the  various  outrages  com- 
mitted on  the  American  vessels  by  the  British,  and  other  repeated  insults 
which  we  are  weekly  experiencing,  carry  an  appearance  of  immediate  war. 
The  British  forces  at  the  North  appear  to  be  actually  preparing  for  an 
engagement. 

A  gentleman  of  this  place,  recently  from  Montreal,  brings  Information 
that  twelve  thousand  men  have  arrived  at  Quebec,  and  that  two  regiments 
of  twelve  hundred  each  have  arrived  at  Montreal,  and  that  the  men  in 
Montreal  are  voluntarily  forming  themselves  into  companies.  But  it  is  the 
general  opinion  that,  in  case  war  should  ensue,  no  attempt  at  defending 
the  province  of  Canada  would  be  made,  except  at  Quebec,  where  un- 
doubtedly a  vigorous  and  determined  stand  would  be  made.  We  are  in- 
formed that  the  military  are  extremely  busy  in  the  moving  of  cannon,  etc., 
from  St.  Johns,  which  we  understand  are  to  be  sent  down  to  Quebec  with 
all  possible  speed.  A  spirit  of  patriotism  prevails  in  this  vicinity.  We  are 
voluntarily   forming   ourselves    into   companies   and    prejiaring   a   state   of 


»  New  York  state  in  1813  had  an  accumulating  fund  of  about  $500,000.  with  an 
annual  revenue  of  but  $36,000  for  purposes  of  education,  "a  most  liberal  provi- 
sion, and  It  Is  devotedly  to  be  wished  that  the  method  of  Its  application  may  be 
worthy  the  enlightened  policy  of  the  appropriation."   ("New  York  Gazetteer.") 

*  Original  letter  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Lydla  Brown,  of  Hartford.   Conn. 


1806-1812— Away  from  Home  17 

defence.  We  have  made  application  to  the  governor  of  the  state  to  have 
a  sufficient  supply  of  arms  and  ammunition  sent  on  to  this  place.  It  is 
very  probable,  if  war  ensues,  that  a  garrison  will  be  immediately  stationed 
in  this  place,  as  here  will  be  the  first  inroad  of  the  British. 

I  am  informed  from  a  statement  in  the  Albany  Crisis  of  August  .5  that 
on  Monday,  27th  ult.,  there  arrived  at  Norwich  (Conn.)  the  mate  and  three 
people  belonging  to  the  Schooner  Betsey,  Capt.  Gary,  which  left  that  place 
a  few  weeks  since  on  a  fishing  voyage.  They  state  that  several  days  after 
their  departure  they  fell  in  with  a  British  cutter  mounting  8  twelve-pound- 
ers and  14  swivels,  who,  after  firing  upon  them,  boarded,  armed  with 
pistols  and  cutlasses,  abused  them  and  ransacked  the  lading,  cutting  their 
codfish  lines  in  pieces.  To  conclude  the  whole,  they  ordered  all  the  crew, 
except  the  captain,  on  board  the  cutter,  detained  them  24  hours  without 
anything  to  eat  or  drink,  and  rendered  the  Betsey  completely  unfit  for 
her  intended  voyage.  I  am  extremely  anxious  to  know  whether  there  were 
any  old  Lebanon  boys  that  sailed  on  board  that  schooner;  if  there  were,  I 
wish  you  to  inform  me  of  them,  and  also  of  the  captain,  for  I  fancy  it  might 
be  Capt.  Roger  Cary,  brother  to  Mr.  John  Cary,  of  Windham. 

In  this  letter  he  also  expressed  his  intention  of  returning  to 
Connecticut  for  a  visit  as  soon  as  an  opportunity  presented  itself. 
The  visit  was  evidently  paid  about  a  year  later,  for  on  October  2, 
1808.  he  Tvrote  his  '^ honored  parents"  as  follows: 

After  an  agreeable  journey  of  ten  days'  pleasant  weather  (excepting 
two  or  three  days),  I  have  arrived  at  Champlain  in  good  health.  ...  I 
am  cordially  received  and  welcomed  home  by  all,  and  shall  recommence 
school  tomorrow,  to  the  joy  and  satisfaction  of  the  people.  ...  I  find 
on  my  arrival  a  regular  [force]  consisting  of  thirty  men  stationed  in  this 
village  in  Continental  order,  and  am  informed  that  additional  troops  are 
daily  sent  on.  The  smuggling  trade  has  increased  during  my  absence,  and 
continues  yet.  There  are  two  gunboats  about  completed  in  Burlington, 
and  ten  or  twenty  sailors,  obtained  from  New  York,  to  manage  them  on 
the  lake  to  prevent  smuggling.  I  shall  omit  particulars  for  the  present, 
for  I  have  not  been  in  town  long  enough  to  gain  correct  information  re- 
specting news. 

That  he  was  a  serious-minded  young  man  is  thoroughly  evidenced 
by  a  letter  which  he  sent  his  l^rother  Abel  in  the  following  year, 
1809:^ 

You  are  now  on  a  critical  state  of  life — errors  and  improprieties  will 
beset  you  on  every  side  in  spite  of  your  precautionary  efforts  to  evade 
them.  The  strongest  and  most  effectual  barrier  against  these  deviations 
is  to  cultivate  j'our  mind  and  procure  a  stock  of  familiar  ideas  and  useful 
informa.tion.     Think  not  too  much  of  dancing  scenes,  but  give  your  mind 


5  Abel  was  at  this  time  18  years  of  age.     He  afterward  attended  medical  lec- 
tures in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  was  practicing  there  when  he  died. 


18  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

time  to  reflect  on  what  you  are  and  of  what  use  you  may  be  to  yourself 
and  to  society  by  properly  improving  your  time.  Be  not  neglectful  of  any 
opportunity  to  qualify  yourself  for  public  use.  Get  all  the  scholastic  in- 
formation that  your  circumstances  will  allow.  Public  transaction,  in  this 
critical  period,  will  eventually  excite  your  observation;  be  therefore  care- 
ful to  infer  correct  ideas.  Let  reflection  go  before  passion,  reason  before 
judgment.  Finally,  my  brother,  qualify  yourself  as  far  as  is  in  your  province 
in  all  the  branches  of  a  common  and  useful  education,  and  you  will  dis- 
cover vacancies  enough  in  this  short  scene  of  life  in  which  you  may  ad- 
vantageously place  yourself.  Make  a  judicious  choice  in  your  friends, 
companions,  and  the  primary  object  of  your  pursuits.  Let  virtue,  truth, 
and  honor  be  your  planetary  guides:  temperance,  justice,  fortitude,  and 
prudence  your  cardinal  points;  faith,  hope,  and  charity  your  horizon;  phi- 
lanthropy, benevolence,  friendship,  and  philosophy  your  atmosphere;  and 
the  elements  of  life  will  be  smooth,  transparent,  and  pleasant,  gently 
gliding  over  your  waving  imagination  like  the  eastern  morning  breeze 
across  the  swelling  fleld  of  wheat. 

While  teaching  school  and  tending  store  he  evidently  found 
sufficient  time  for  the  reading  of  medical  works,  which  he  obtained 
from  the  library  of  Dr.  Pomeroy,  a  prominent  physician  and  sur- 
geon in  Burlington,  \\\t\\  whom  he  doubtless  came  in  contact  as 
he  was  wending  his  way  northward  through  western  Vermont.  He 
evidently  determined  at  that  time  to  take  up  the  study  of  medicine. 
and  borrowed  from  Dr.  Pomeroy  such  works  as  would  give  him  the 
fundamentals.  Teaching,  then,  was  only  a  means  to  an  end,  his 
real  object  being  to  ])ut  aside  sufficient  funds  to  tide  him  over  the 
prescribed  two  years  of  medical  apprenticeship. 

At  this  period  there  was  evidently  no  physician  in  Champlain 
whom  he  considered  woi-thy  of  being  his  preceptor,  so  at  the  end 
of  three  years,  in  the  fall  of  1810,  he  crossed  Lake  Champlain  to 
St.  Albans,  YeniKnit,  where  Dr.  Benjamin  Chandler  was  the  most 
prominent  and  capable  practitioner.  To  him  young  Beaumont  ap- 
plied, and  was  taken  into  his  own  home  as  an  apprentice  and  a 
fellow  pupil  of  his  son,  John,  who  was  reading  medicine  with 
his  father.  That  he  chose  wisely  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for  there 
is  every  evidence  that  Dr.  Chandler  instilled  into  the  mind  of  his 
young  pupil  from  the  very  start  the  importance  of  developing  his 
memory,  his  powers  of  observation,  and  the  habit  of  logical  thought 
AVhile  Beaumont  was  by  nature  gifted  with  these  qualities,  it  is 
very  evident  that  they  were  encouraged  and  developed  through  his 
apprenticeship  with  Chandler. 

There  are  pi-actically  no  recin-ds  extant  of  Chandler's  medical 


1806-1812 — Beaumont's  Preceptor  19 

qualifications  other  than  the  statement  that  he  was  "most  skillful 
in  his  medical  practice  and  notably  in  surgery. ' '  But  if  a  tree  may 
be  judged  by  its  fruit,  certainly  a  fair  estimate  of  his  talents  may 
be  formed  from  the  evidence  that  ^\e  find  among  the  Beaumont 
papers  of  the  great  incentive  and  inspiration  which  he  lent  his 
pupil.  If  he  ever  wrote  anything,  medical  annals  and  the  records 
in  possession  of  his  descendants  fail  to  reveal  it,  but  this  was  true 
of  most  of  the  country  practitioners  of  that  day,  because  of  their 
lack  of  opportunity  of  recording  their  observations.  Medical  jour- 
nals were  few,'^  were  edited  only  in  cities,  and  their  contents  were 
confined  largely  to  the  experience  of  those  most  accessible  to  the 
editors.  The  only  facts  that  we  have  been  able  to  collect  concerning 
Dr.  Chandler  were  those  that  his  granddaughter"  kindly  furnished. 
She  writes : 

I  heard  my  father  speak  many  times  of  Dr.  Beaumont,  who  was  studying 
with  Dr.  Benjamin  Chandler  at  the  same  time  with  himself.  Naturally  my 
father  followed  the  record  of  Dr.  Beaumont's  life  career  with  great  inter- 
est. The  death  of  my  grandfather  occurred  many  years  before  my  birth; 
therefore  I  can  not  now  give  you  any  proper  description  of  him.  I  have  in 
my  possession  two  copies  of  letters  from  Dr.  Beaumont  to  my  grandfather, 
and  I  presume  you  will  be  pleased  to  have  them,  since  at  this  very  late 
date  there  can  be  no  wrong  or  impropriety  in  my  giving  them  into  your 
hands.  .  .  .  There  is  no  portrait  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Chandler,  though  I 
have  a  sketch  of  his  later  days  written  by  my  father  relating  especially 
to  his  religious  experience. 

He  was  born  in  1772  or  1773,  a  few  years  prior  to  the  Revolution, 
and  died  in  December,  1818,  at  46  years  of  age.  The  sketch  referred 
to  deals  almost  entirely  with  his  religious  experience  during  the 
last  few  months  of  his  life  and  his  efforts  to  regain  health. 

He  was  the  victim  of  severe  and  unceasing  bodily  pain,  also  suffering 
intense  mental  distress,  filled  with  disgust  toward  all  the  world  calls  good, 
finding  nothing  to  satisfy  his  eager  and  ever  active  mind.  Always  sus- 
taining a  character  for  integrity,  honor,  and  generosity,  he  was  neverthe- 
less irascible  and  sometimes  implacable.  He  was  a  man  to  be  much  ad- 
mired and  loved,  yet  sometimes  to  be  feared  and  condemned.  Such  was 
his  apparent  character  when  he  left  St.  Albans  for  the  last  time  in  his 
life  for  a  short  sojourn  at  the  medicinal  springs  of  Saratoga. 

Yet  in  a  few  short  weeks  he  returned  to  his  family  and  friends  unim- 


^  Between  1797  and  1812  ten  medical  journals  had  been  in  existence  in  Amer- 
ica, five  of  which  were  discontinued. 

"^Mrs.  Caroline  E.  Bishop,  of  Dorchester.  Mass.,  the  daughter  of  Dr.  John  F. 
Chandler,  who  became  a  prominent  physician  in  St.  Albans,  succeeding- his  father 
in  practice  and  living  to  the  age  of  90  years. 


20  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiam  Beaumont 

proved  in  health,  still  suffering  intense  bodily  anguish,  but  with  a  mind  at 
peace  with  God  and  in  charity  with  all  mankind.  All  the  tiger  was  trans- 
formed to  the  lamb. 

The  remainder  of  the  sketch  is  devoted  to  a  consideration  of  the 
religious  light  which  came  to  him  during  his  last  days.  These  facts 
at  least  serve  to  give  a  faint  conception  of  the  "manner  of  man" 
who  guided  young  Beaumont  in  the  very  inception  of  his  medical 
career.^ 

Living  under  the  same  roof,  as  was  customary  in  the  days  of 
medical  apprenticeship,  the  preceptor  could  look  after  both  mind 
and  morals  of  his  pupil.  The  fledgling,  in  return  for  the  instruc- 
tion received  at  the  hands  of  his  master,  not  only  compensated  him 
for  his  trouble,  but  performed  many  of  the  menial  offices  of  a 
servant  about  the  house  and  the  office.  It  was  he  who  prepared  the 
powders,  mixed  concoctions,  made  the  pills,  swept  the  office,  kept 
the  bottles  clean,  assisted  in  operations,  and  often  through  main 
force  supplied  the  place  of  the  anesthetic  of  today  in  the  ampu- 
tation of  limbs  and  other  surgical  procedures.  He  rode  about 
with  the  Doctor  from  house  to  house,  profiting  by  his  personal 
experience  and  jotting  down  in  the  pages  of  his  notebook  and  on  the 
tablets  of  his  memory  the  words  of  wisdom  that  fell  from  his 
master's  lips.  His  instruction  was  chiefly  through  the  observation 
of  cases,  rather  than  through  reading.  He  was  taught  the 
symptoms  of  disease,  the  crude  methods  of  diagnosis,  the  art  of 
prescription  writing,  and  the  process  of  cupping  and  bleeding 
considered  so  effective  in  its  day.  When  occasion  permitted,  he 
read  the  medical  works  contained  in  the  old  mahos-anv  bookcase  in 


8  The  following  is  a  fi-agment  of  an  "Ode  to  a  Clock."  written  by  Dr.  Benjamin 
Chandler  during  his  last  sickness  in  1818: 

Yes.  faithful  monitor  of  passing  time. 

Thou  givest  the  alarm  of  morn,  of  eve,  and  the 

Still  midnight  hour,  when  contemplation  tills 

The  reflecting  mind;  undeviating  in  thy  couise 

Thou  grind'st  unerring  in  the  useful  task 

Of  daily  labor,  and  the  journeyed  sports. 

The  evening  gambols,  and  the  hours  of  rest. 

Each  second,   minute,  and  each  day  and  month 

Is  by  thy  face  exhibited  to  view; 

The  silver  moon  in  all  her  various  forms 

Is  shown  in  Infancy,  in  youth,   in  age. 

By  thj^  mysterious  powers.     Thy  form  is  beautiful. 

Thy  voice  distinct,  shrill,  and  impressive. 

But  when  old  Time,  which  thus  thou  hast  portrayed. 

Has  worn  thy  wheels,   thy  symmetry  defaced. 

Or  some  foul  accident  has  wrecked  thee  to  the  center. 

And  put  a  period  to  thy  mystic  powers. 

Then  will  thy  fame  be  blotted  out.   nor  more  continued. 

Respect  not  shown  for  thy  past  merit,  then  will 

Thy  precious  corse  be  kicked  aside  and  trampled  on 

By  those  thou  hast  befriended.     .     .     . 


1806-1812 — Medical  Apprenticeship  21 

the  corner.  They  were  not  many,  for  medical  libraries  were  very 
small  in  those  days  because  of  the  price  of  books  of  that  character, 
and  he  was  accounted  fortunate  indeed  who  could  boast  of  a  "five- 
foot  shelf"  of  medical  books.  Occasionally  a  rare  opportunity 
of  dissecting  an  arm  or  a  leg  that  had  been  amputated  presented 
itself,  and  these  were  gala  days  for  the  young  pupil.  The  dissec- 
tion of  an  entire  body  was  exceedingly  rare,  not  only  because  of  the 
difficulty  of  obtaining  cadavers,  but  because  of  the  lack  of  means 
for  preserving  them. 

Of  all  of  the  valuable  papers  at  our  disposal  in  the  preparation  of 
this  work,  none  is  more  interesting  from  an  historical  standpoint 
than  the  small  notebook  kept  by  young  Beaumont  during  and  just 
after  his  apprenticeship.  It  contained  some  of  his  first  lessons 
in  prescription  writing  and  the  smattering  of  Latin  necessary  in 
writing  them,  and  notations  on  the  causes,  symptoms,  and  regimen 
of  the  more  important  diseases  with  which  he  came  in  contact  in 
the  connnunity  in  which  he  was  receiving  his  instruction.  ' '  Inter- 
mittents,  acute  fevers,  spotted  fever,  pleurisy,  peripneumony, 
rheumatism,  and  cynanche"  were  all  receiving  his  earnest  consid- 
eration. Many  of  these  notes  were  doubtless  dictated  by  his 
preceptor  and  preserved  as  a  textbook  by  the  pupil,  while  others 
were  copied  from  old  riiasters,  such  as  Cullen  and  Sydenham.  He 
included  also  many  c[uotations  from  the  classics,  which  show 
plainly  the  trend  of  his  thoughts,  his  high  ideals,  and  his  devotion 
to  the  science  of  medicine.  But  nothing  could  have  so  well  fore- 
shadowed the  coming  events  in  his  life  as  the  case  histories  contained 
in  this  little  volume  of  patients  observed  by  him  in  the  company  of 
Chandler.  They  serve  to  demonstrate  very  conclusively  that  the 
power  of  keen  observat;ion  and  the  true  scientific  spirit  were 
manifest  in  him  at  an  early  age  of  his  career,  that  the  nucleus 
was  there,  and  all  that  it  required  was  proper  encouragement.  Let 
us  note  here  a  few  of  the  quotations  which  he  considered  worthy  of 
copying  and  appropriating : 

We  know  not  what  may  be  the  idea  of  the  best  physicians  in  future 
time,  but  he  is  reckoned  a  good  physician  who  makes  use  of  all  the  as- 
sistance by  which,  thro  the  happiness  of  the  present  age,  the  art  of  physic 
has  been  improved. 

Of  all  the  lessons  which  a  young  man  entering  upon  the  profession  of 
medicine  needs  to  learn,  this  is,  perhaps,  the  first — that  he  should  resist 
the  fascinations  of  doctrine  and  hypotheses  till  he  have  won  the  privilege 
of  such  studies  by  honest  labor  and  a  faithful  pursuit  of  real  and  useful 


22 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 


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An    exercise    in    prescription    writing    from    Beaumont's    noteboolv    wliile    an 
apprentice  under  Dr.  Chandler,  1810-12. 


1806-1812 — Medical  Apprenticeship  23 

knowledge.  Of  this  knowledge  surely  anatomy  forms  the  first  and  greatest 
share  as  being  the  basis  of  all  medical  skill. 

Physicians,  when  tending  upon  their  patients,  should  make  their  health 
their  first  object.  So  gentle  and  sympathizing  should  be  their  disposi- 
tions and  manner  in  the  apartment  of  the  sick  that  pain  and  distress 
should  seem  suspended  in  their  presence.  So  exhilarating  ought  their 
visits  to  be  that  hope  should  follow  their  footsteps,  so  salutary  their  pre- 
scriptions that  death  should  drop  his  commission  in  combat  with  their 
skill. 

In  order  to  attain  this  useful  knowledge,  we  must  learn  what  is  neces- 
sary from  anatomy,  waste  no  time  in  superfluous  study  in  it,  dissect  sub- 
jects, distinguish  remaining  effects  from  causes  that  have  passed  away; 
examine  diligently  very  many  bodies  of  persons  who  have  been  hanged, 
drowned,  died  of  wounds,  etc.;  compare  these  diligently  with  bodies  of 
those  who  have  died  by  lingering  and  often-repeated  disease;  compare 
every  particular  with  the  whole;  guard  against  the  rashness  of  forming 
opinions,  and,  if  you  can,  you  will  be  among  a  very  few  who  have  ever 
been  able  to  do  so;  never  expect  to  discover  the  cause  of  disease  in  dead 
bodies;  be  circumspect  in  forming  a  judgment. 

In  order  to  be  convinced  that  he  very  early  put  these  precepts 
into  practice,  one  needs  but  peruse  some  of  the  case  records, 
showing  how  as  a  pupil  he  was  carefully  making  and  just  as 
carefully  recording  his  observations.  The  following  case  records, 
selected  from  a  number  in  his  notebook,  show  not  only  his  scientific 
tendency,  but  other  traits  of  character  as  well,  though  according 
to  our  present  conception  a  few  unnecessary  observations  have  crept 
into  the  record : 

Miss  M.  A.  was  taken  on  the  12th  of  August,  1811,  with  the  common 
autumnal  fever;  the  symptoms  very  favorable,  and  its  progress  mild  with- 
out the  least  apprehension  of  danger  till  the  eighth  day  (being  excessively 
hot  and  sweltering),  just  at  night,  when  she  was  discovered  by  her  phy- 
sician to  have  fallen  into  a  state  of  extreme  debility  and  fast  sinking,  as 
if  under  a  powerful  internal  hemorrhagy,  and,  notwithstanding  every 
medicine  that  was  administered  for  her  relief,  not  a  momentary  effect 
could  be  procur'd.  She  continued  to  fail  faster  and  faster  for  about  two 
hours,  when,  to  the  heartfelt  grief  and  inexpressible  sorrow  of  her  tender 
mother  and  affectionate  brothers,  she  expired,  amidst  the  groans  and 
lamentations  of  her  sympathetic  companions  and  congenial  friends  and 
associates,  deluged  in  tears  of  grief  for  the  loss  of  so  amiable  a  daughter, 
sister,  friend,  and  companion. 

The  bod3^  was  immediately  opened,  where  was  found  in  a  fluid  form  the 
omentum,  almost  completely  dissolved,  about  two  or  three  ounces  re- 
maining. ...  A  quart  or  more  of  Oil  found  in  the  cavity  of  the 
Abdomen  and  a  quantity  of  blood  in  the  first  passage,  probably  an  hem- 
orrhagy from  the  hemorrhoidal  vessels,  and  (detached  from  the  cause  or 


24  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^yiUiam  Beaumont 

effect  of  the  present  disease)  the  ovaria  were  enlarged  to  more  than  three 
times  their  natural  size,  filled  both  externally  and  internally  with  Hy- 
datids, and  many  of  them  in  a  state  of  actual  suppuration,  which  last  cir- 
cumstance would  unavoidably  have  circumscribed  the  number  of  her  days 
to  a  verj'  contracted  period. 

The  autopsy,  which  was  never  neglected  by  him,  is  of  special 
interest,  and  gives  one  the  impression  of  a  possible  case  of  pan- 
creatitis, with  fat  necrosis  and  dermoid  cysts  of  the  ovaries. 

April  22,  1812,  M.  M.,  daughter  of  I.  M.,  had  been  for  many  months  very 
much  out  of  health,  feeble,  and  complaining  of  much  pain  and  distress. 
She  not  being  old  enough  to  tell  the  nature  or  exact  seat  of  her  com- 
plaint, her  parents  suppos'd  her  to  be  troubled  with  worms,  and  accord- 
ingly gav3  her  vermifuge  medicine,  without  the  desired  effect.  She  still 
continued  ailing,  and  from  the  history  of  her  parents  she  appeared  singular 
at  times  by  seeming  to  be  troubled  with  the  presence  of  some  hateful, 
undesirable  object  at  which  she  would  strike  and  contend  with,  tho 
nothing  was  there;  quarreling  with  the  children;  seeming  petulent  and 
feverish,  and  complaining  of  her  head  more  particularly.  On  or  about 
the  12tL  instant  she  was  violently  attacked  with  a  pulmonic  inflammation, 
which  continued  obstinate,  with  a  pale,  sunken  countenance,  cold  extremi- 
ties, occasional  flushings  of  fever  and  burning  heat,  frequent  stoppage  of 
circulation,  nausea,  vomiting,  and  vmiversal  dryness  of  skin,  until  about 
the  tenth  day  of  the  disease,  when  she  was  taken  (as  the  people  supposed) 
with  a  fit — that  is,  an  affection  of  the  nerves,  a  twitching  of  the  muscles, 
a  wild,  staring  delirium,  dilatation  of  the  pupils,  continual  picking  with  the 
fingers  at  nothing,  making  a  kind  of  whispering  noise  and  crying,  com- 
plaining of  great  heat  and  pain  in  the  head,  and  a  continual  nausea  and 
sickness.  Tho  there  was  but  a  forlorn  hope  of  recovery,  it  was  proposed 
she  be  put  into  the  cold  bath,  which  seemed  to  give  short  relief  from  the 
violent  symptoms,  but  they  soon  returned,  and.  notv>ithstanding  a  repeti- 
tion of  the  bath  to  no  effect,  she  died  in  about  eight  hours  after  the  first 
emersion  at  2  o'clock,  a.  m. 

The  symptoms  of  the  hydrocephalus  internus  having  been  so  obvious, 
it  was  considered  to  be  productive  of  future  benefit  to  open  the  head. 
Leave  being  obtained,  it  was  accordingly  done  on  the  same  day  at  about 
1  o'clock,  p.  m.,  where  we  found  about  a  half  pint  of  serous  fiuid  contained 
in  the  ventricles,  diffused  thro  the  substance  of  the  brain,  the  blood  ves- 
sels all  distended  with  thick  black  blood,  the  whole  substance  of  the  brain 
of  a  rather  watery  appearance,  and  the  dura  mater  firmly  adhering  to  the 
skull  all  around,  as  well  as  the  sutures,  and  bore  evident  marks  of  an 
Infiammation  of  the  membranes  of  the  brain. 

A.  M.,  a  healthy  young  lady  of  full,  plethoric  habit  (though  not  of  a 
very  strong  constitution),  was  on  the  17th  of  August  seized  with  a  synocha 
or  inflammatory  fever;  symptoms  violent,  and  weather  extremely 
warm  and  sultry.  For  several  days  previous  to  this  attack  she  had  been 
quite  unwell,  but  kept  about  her  usual  domestic  employment,  taking  heavy- 


1806-1812^0 ase  Histories  25 

doses  of  laudanum  to  relieve  the  pain,  till  about  10  o'clock  on  the  17th 
she  was  taken  with  violent  pains  in  her  head,  side,  back,  loins,  muscles, 
and  limbs;  cold  chills,  rigors,  universal  lassitude,  and  nausea;  face  red  as 
scarlet,  eyes  inflamed,  and  great  soreness  on  motion,  tongue  thick  coated 
and  very  black,  skin  dry;  and  pulse  strong,  full,  and  hard.  I  was  called 
about  11  oclock,  immediately  took  about  14  ounces  blood,  gave  an  emetic, 
cum  pill  cathartic,  which  evacuated  much  foul,  black  bilious  matter  from 
the  stomach  and  from  the  bowels;  besides,  a  spontaneous  bleeding  from 
the  orifice  in  the  arm  of  about  12  oz.  as  near  as  could  be  judged,  which 
reduced  the  high  arterial  action  and  much  abated  the  other  violent 
symptoms,  and  with  the  assistance  of  the  saline  draught  induced  a  free 
perspiration  and  pretty  much  relieved  the  pains;  continued  the  saline 
draught  with  the  addition  of  the  Dover's  powders  thro  the  night,  which 
afforded  a  pretty  comfortable  night's  rest  and  kept  up  a  general  action  in 
the  system,  tho  there  was  some  prostration  of  strength  and  slight  pains 
and  dizziness  of  the  head  thro  the  fore  part  of  the  following  day,  with  a 
slight  paroxysm  of  fever  about  11.  In  the  after  part  of  the  day  the  pain 
in  her  head  was  increased  with  the  recurrence  of  some  of  the  other 
symptoms,  and  I  judged  further  evacuation  from  the  bowels  to  be  neces- 
sary, and  accordingly  promoted  it  by  cal.  and  Ol.  Ricin,  which,  after  a 
pretty  severe  operation,  left  her  considerably  exhausted,  notwithstanding^ 
a  free  use  of  the  pulv.  Doveri  and  serpt.  virg.  the  next  morning,  after  a 
night  of  considerable  pain  and  distress  in  consequence  of  the  continuation 
of  the  alterant  pills  kept  up  during  the  operation  of  the  physic.  Relieved 
in  the  morning  by  an  opiate,  she  continued  better  thro  the  day;  took  01. 
Ricin  at  night,  which,  after  operating,  left  her  in  the  same  condition  as 
before,  griping  in  consequence  of  the  pill,  alterans,  and  relieved  in  the 
same  way,  tho  much  affected  with  dyspnoea  and  faintness.  Saturday 
morning,  bark  wine,  Serpentaria,  and  Brunonian  pill  continued  to  be  ad- 
ministered with  a  liberal  hand;  broth  and  friction  given  freely;  yet,  not- 
withstanding all  these,  she  continued  to  have  faint  turns,  with  cold  ex- 
tremities, with  considerable  sinking  of  the  pulses  thro  the  day,  which  may 
be  ascribed  partly,  perhaps,  to  the  shock  given  her  by  the  bells  tolling  for 
the  death  of  a  child  in  the  neighborhood.  At  night  directed  the  stimula 
to  be  increased,  added  Colombo  to  the  Serpt.  Rested  very  well  thro  the 
night;  much  better  this  morning;  strength  sufficient  to  raise  herself  up, 
sits  up  considerably,  quite  free  from  pain;  takes  nourishment  with  a  good 
relish,  action  much  better,  capillaries  free,  passages  regular,  some  trouble 
with  dyspnoea,  but  on  the  whole  must  be  considered  in  the  convalescence 
state.     .     .     . 

Mrs.  Polly,  wife  of  Mr.  C.  H.,  of  a  slender  constitution  and  cold,  phleg- 
matic habit;  married  in  May,  1810;  was  happily  delivered  of  a  fine,  large, 
healthy  boy  on  the  15th  of  February,  1811;  remained  very  comfortable  for 
four  or  five  hours,  had  a  refreshing  sleep,  and  awoke  free  from  pain  or 
disagreeable  sensation.  But  in  the  course  of  half  an  hour  complained  of 
a  pain  at  the  pit  of  the  stomach,  which  she  supposed  to  be  merely  flatus, 
and  took  a  small  dose  of  Elix.  Pareg.  and  Ess.  pip.  menth.  without  any 


26  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiam  Beeiumont 

essential  relief:  a  violent  retching  and  puking  ensued,  rejection  of  mon- 
strous, fetid,  black,  bilious  matter  by  spontaneous  effort,  without  any  re- 
lief. In  an  hour  after  the  commencement  of  the  distress,  judging  from  the 
matter  rejected  that  an  emetic  of  ipecac  and  Sulph.  iron  indicated.  1  gave 
a  gentle  one,  which  had  a  kind  operation  and  seemed  to  give  momentary 
relief,  but  no  permanent  effect,  although  it  evacuated  much  foul,  bilious 
matter;  yet  in  a  short  time  she  relapsed  into  the  same  condition,  and  was 
most  violently  seized  with  spasms  of  the  most  alarming  nature,  which 
left  her  in  the  space  of  a  minute  deprived  of  ier  reason  or  recollection. 
These  spasms  recurred  at  irregular  intervals  for  about  seventy-two  hours, 
but  with  the  same  invariable  symptoms.  The  first  appearance  of  a  re- 
currtnee  was  an  apparent  revival  of  strength  and  diminution  of  pain,  tho 
the  eyelids  would  seem  to  rise  involuntaiily,  the  eyes  moderately  moving 
with  more  than  common  luster  for  a  few  seconds;  then  a  frequent  wink- 
ing, v/ith  the  eyes  moving  to  the  left;  the  muscles  of  the  mouth  and  face 
beginning  to  twitch,  drawing  mostly  to  the  left;  a  horrid  distortion  of  the 
whole  features,  terminating  in  a  general  and  violent  convulsion,  followed 
by  great  difficulty  of  respiration  and  sense  of  suffocation,  ending  in  a 
great  prostration  of  strength,  turgescence  of  the  countenance,  and  froth- 
ing at  the  mouth,  leaving  the  patient  in  a  cofnatose  state  until  the  recur- 
rence of  a  succeeding  fit,  which  at  first  occurred  one  in  about  fifteen 
minutes,  afterward  not  so  often,  sometimes  leaving  an  interval  of  two  or 
three  hours  and  then  returning  with  more  violence,  and  so  continued  until 
relief  could  be  obtained  from  the  operation  of  medicine,  which  was  not 
under  forty-eight  hours. 

The  most  powerful  antispasmodics  were  liberally  administered  in  vain; 
no  relief  could  be  observed,  not  even  in  arresting  the  spasm  by  large 
doses  of  opium,  castor  oil,  etc.;  the  warm  bath  and  friction  and  injections 
were  all  useless  in  preventing  or  even  relieving  the  convulsions  for 
thirty-six  hours,  when  by  the  administration  and  operation  of  about  8 
grains  of  cal.  to  3  grains  of  musk  every  two  hours,  blisters  on  the  ex- 
tremities, a  large  one  on  the  abdomen,  the  use  of  stimulating  injections,  a 
copious  discharge  of  a  most  fetid  bilious  matter  from  her  bowels  gave  the 
first  signs  of  rescuing  her  from  death.  Fortj'  hours  after  the  attack  she 
experienced  the  first  relief  from  the  operation  of  the  above-mentioned 
treatment,  and  continued  to  be  relieved  by  the  use  of  the  cal.  musk  in 
smaller  portions,  with  the  addition  of  camphor  and  ipecac  repeated  every 
four  hours,  keeping  up  a  discharge  from  her  bowels  daily  by  the  use  of 
ol.  ricin,  salts,  senna,  manna,  mag.  alb.,  alternated  with  yeast  or  broth, 
giving  for  nourishment  arrowroot,  with  small  quantities  of  wine,  chicken 
broth,  etc.  Under  the  foregoing  treatment  she  recovered  rapidly,  and  in 
the  space  of  four  weeks  was  able  to  ride  a  mile  or  two.  and  in  five  or  six 
commenced  her  domestic  duties  again. 

X.  B,  One  thing  merits  noticing  in  this  case  in  particular — that  is, 
she  lost  all  recollection  and  sense  of  reason  from  the  first  fit,  and,  what 
is  still  more  singular,  when  she  began  to  regain  her  reason,  could  not 
recollect  any.  not  even  the  most  important,  circumstances  of  her  life  for 


1806-1812 — Enjoying  Health  and  Peace  27 

more  than  a  year  last  past,  and  as  she  slowly  regained  her  strength  and 
reason  she  came  gradually  to  her  recollection,  recognizing  faintly  the  most 
distant  and  important  event  subsequent  to  her  being  married,  and  so  she 
continues  to  recover  her  recollection  in  the  same  ratio  as  she  regains  her 
health  and  strength,  and  acting  as  it  were  the  scene  of  the  last  year  of 
her  life  over  again. 

Thus  lie  plodded  through  the  prescribed  two  years  of  his  appren- 
ticeship, improving  each  hour,  reading  the  masters,  dissecting  an 
arm  when  the  opportunity  offered,  never  missing  an  occasion  to 
perform  a  post-mortem,  making  careful  notations,  preserving  his 
case  records,  and  profiting  by  every  experience  of  his  preceptor. 
A  letter  to  his  parents,  written  "November  26,  1811,  gives  expression 
to  the  great  satisfaction  he  wan  deriving  from  his  apprenticeship 
at  St.  Albans : 

My  dear  Parents,  Who  at  this  time,  and  for  some  time  gone,  have  been 
affectionately  upbraiding  their  undutiful  son  for  neglecting  to  comply 
with  their  most  anxious  and  reasonable  solicitations,  but  will  kindly  par- 
don a  breach  of  duty  which  arises  not  from  a  want  of  natural  feeling  or 
grateful  remembrance;  but,  buried  among  books  and  absorbed  by  thought 
and  reflection,  I  am  indifferent  to  almost  every  other  topic,  even  to  those 
endearing  themes — paternal  love,  maternal  affection,  and  fraternal  es- 
teem— which  demand  the  first,  the  last,  and  the  dearest  sentiments  of  my 
heart. 

I  enjoy  two  of  the  best  gifts  of  heaven — health  and  peace.  The 
wealthiest  can  enjoy  but  one  more,  which  is  competence,  yet  many,  very 
many  frowns  and  misfortunes  borne  by  them  are  by  me  unexperienced. 

My  situation  affords  me  a  very  pleasant  life,  though  it  requires  my 
utmost  diligence  and  perseverance  in  the  pursuit  of  a  medical  profession 
by  which,  sooner  or  later,  I  hope  to  exhibit  specimens  of  proficiency  in  an 
art  which,  in  this  enlightened  age  of  reason  and  under  the  modern  im- 
provements of  Chemistry  and  Physiology,  bids  fair  to  rise  with  healing  on 
her  wings. 

My  local  situation  is  such  that  you  need  not  give  yourself  uneasiness 
about  it.  I  shall  be  able  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  my  education  without 
any  difficulty  (extraordinaries  excepted);  my  prospects  are  fair,  and  my 
encouragements  are  by  no  means  indifferent.  I  am  considerably  in  the 
habit  of  riding  with  my  preceptor,  and  have  the  charge  of  many  of  his 
patients  during  his  calls  elsewhere,  which  are  numerous  and  at  a  distance. 
He  has  just  returned  from  a  distant  patient  in  whom  he  has,  as  it  were, 
effected  a  resurrection,  and  is  now  gone  twenty  or  thirty  miles  to  per- 
form an  amputation. 

Report  was  evidently  current  back  in  his  New  England  home  that 
he   had   turned    Federalist.     In   this    same    letter   he   showed   the 


28 


Life  and  Letters  of  Br.  WiUiani  Beaumont 


1806-1812 — Republican  and  Not  Federalist  29 

fallacy  of  this  report,   and  at  the  same  time  gave  expression  in 
unmistakable  terms  of  his  firm  adherence  to  Republicanism. 

.  .  .  As  to  the  report  that  I  have  become  a  Federalist,  I  will  mention 
that  so  different  is  the  impression  among  these  people,  and  even  on  the 
mind  of  my  preceptor,  who  is  the  hottest  Federalist  that  I  ever  knew, 
though  a  man  of  superior  talents,  that  I  am  toasted  as  a  Republican,  and 
am  under  daily  threatenings  of  being  turned  out  of  door  for  cherishing  a 
true  Republican  principle.  That  principle  is  the  legitimate  sentiment  of 
every  real  American.  It  was  hereditarily  bestowed  and  carefully  culti- 
vated by  an  anxious  father,  whose  precepts  and  instructions  have  made 
an  indelible  impression  on  the  heart  of  his  son,  who  is  farther  than  ever 
from  having  the  name  Federal  justly  applied  to  his  character  or  associated 
with  his  name — farther  than  the  North  is  from  the  South;  who  feel's  the 
glowing  influence  of  that  noble  sentiment  of  liberty  and  independence 
which  the  veteran  fathers  fought,  bled,  and  died  to  obtain,  which  influence 
elevates  the  soul  of  every  true  American  as  much  above  the  factious 
spirit  prevalent  in  our  country  as  Zenith  is  above  Nadir,  or  virtue  above 
vice.  Yes,  dear  Sir,  erase  and  let  every  impression  be  obliterated  from 
every  mind  of  my  ever  being  made  a  convert  to  the  present  system  of 
Federalism.  Sooner  might  they  remove  the  everlasting  hills  than  bribe 
my  integrity,  make  my  faith  waver,  shake  my  belief,  or  divert  my  course 
from  the  pole  star  of  Republicanism  while  reason  holds  her  empire  over 
the  province  of  my  intellect.  ,: 

With  the  completion  of  his  apprenticeship,  the  "Third  Medical 
Society  of  the  State  of  Vermont,  as  by  law  established,"  granted 
him  a  license  to  practice,  with  the  announcement  that 

William  Beaumont  having  presented  himself  to  this  Society  for  ex- 
amination on  the  Anatomy  of  the  Human  Body,  and  the  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice of  Physic  and  Surgery,  and,  being  approved  by  our  Censors,  the 
Society  willingly  recommend  him  to  the  world  as  a  judicious  and  safe 
practitioner  in  the  different  avocations  of  the  Medical  Profession.  In  tes- 
timony whereof  we  have  hereunto  flxed  the  Signature  of  our  President  and 
Seal  of  Society,  at  the  Medical  Hall  in  Burlington,  the  2d  Tuesday  of  June, 
A.  D.  1812. 

Jxo.  PoMEROY,9  President. 

Cassius  F.  PoMEKOY.io  Secretary. 


"Dr.  John  Pomeroy  moved  to  Burlington  in  1792,  where  he  lived  in  a  log 
cabin  with  his  wife  and  three  children,  and  in  1797  built  the  first  brick  house  on 
Water  street,  which  is  still  standing.  He  practiced  medicine  for  nearly  fifty 
years,  during  part  of  which  time  he  is  said  to  have  been  the  most  prominent 
physician  and  the  only  surgeon  in  northern  Vermont. 

1°  Dr.  Cassius  Francis  Pomeroy,  the  eldest  son  of  Dr.  John  Pomeroy,  was  ad- 
mitted January  15,  1802,  to  the  University  of  Vermont,  receiving  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Arts  in  1806  and  that  of  Master  of  Arts  in  1809.  He  was  one  of  the 
original  members  of  the  Phi-Sigma-Nu  Fraternity.  He  died  March  23,  1813,  of 
the  prevailing  epidemic,  "peripneumonia  notha,"  and  on  April  29,  1813,  a  dis- 
course was  pronounced  in  the  chapel  of  the  University  on  his  death  by  Daniel 
Clark  Sanders,  D.  D..  president  of  the  University.  (American  Biographies  of 
Prominent  Men;  Hemmenway's  "Vermont  Gazetteer;"  Raun's  History  of  Chit- 
tenden County.) 


30 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 


The  Pomeroys  whose  sionatiires  are  affixed  to  his  license  seem  to 
have  played  an  important  role  in  Beaumont's  early  development, 
for  we  have  elsewhere  noted  that,  even  before  taking-  up  the  study 
of  medicine  as  an  apprentice,  he  was  reading  works  from  the  library 
of  Dr.  Pomeroy.  Dr.  John  Pomeroy,  concerning  whom  traditions 
are  still  current  in  Burlington,  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
influential  pioneers  of  this  section,  for  many  years  a  member  of 


^f^^^^^^f^^y^.^^^^^,  ^^^ 


^^fe     &       ,^y^ifC^  i^:../^    C^ 


(c><iJZ^2j2y^  ^^^^  ^.^^y-^,^  ^I/a^h 


Certificate  of  profes.sional  attainments  and  moral  character  from  Dr.  Benja- 
min Chandler  to  Beaumont  on  the  completion  of  his  apprenticeship,  September 
7,   1812. 


the  corporation  of  the  University  of  Vermont,  which  opened  its 
doors  in  1801,  and  afterward  professor  of  anatomy  and  surgery  in 
its  medical  department,  which  was  fully  organized  in  1821.  He 
began  his  lectures  on  these  subjects,  however,  in  1807,  and  taught 
students  at  his  own  office  from  1809,  when  so  many  are  said  to  have 
applied  that  he  was  compelled  to  rent  a  lecture-room  outside  of  his 


1306-1812 — Completes  His  Appreniiceslup  31 

own  house.  It  is  quite  probable  that  Beaumont's  contact  with 
Dr.  Pomeroy  as  he  passed  through  Burlington  in  the  fall  of  1806 
determined  his  life  career. 

After  receiving  this  authorization  permitting  him  to  engage  in 
the  practice  of  medicine.  Dr.  Beaumont  remained  with  his  preceptor 
until  September  8th  of  the  same  year.  On  his  departure  the  master 
gave  him  a  certificate  bearing  testimony  that  '"the  bearer.  Doct. 
William  Beaumont,  has  attentively  and  advantageously  pursued  the 
Studies  of  Physic  and  Surgery  under  my  direction,  has  acquired 
not  only  a  good  theoretic  knowledge,  but  has  well  progressed  in  the 
practice  of  the  same,  has  been  honored  with  the  unanimous  appro- 
bation of  the  3d  Medical  Society  of  Vermont,  and  his  Moral 
Character  is  universally  respectable,  and  I  cheerfully  recommend 
him  as  a  safe  and  Judicious  Practitioner."  He  took  with  him  also 
other  credentials,  which  give  a  fair  idea  of  his  high  standing  in  the 
community.  Dr.  Truman  Powell,"  whom  Beaumont  evidently  re- 
garded well,  for  we  find  a  number  of  his  presci'iptions  copied  in 
the  little  ledger,  on  September  10,  1812,  executed  a  certificate  at 
Bennington  stating  that 

The  Bearer,  Doctr.  William  Beaumont,  is  a  Gentleman  of  respectability 
and  talents,  and  one  who  has  regularly  Studied  Physic  as  a  Science  and 
Practiced  it  as  a  Profession.  I  therefore  recommend  him  to  the  World  as 
a  safe  and  Successful  Practitioner  in  Physic  and  Surgery. 

A  testimonial,  signed  by  Seth  Pomeroy^-  and  given  at  Burlington 
September,  1812,  reads  as  follows : 

The  Bearer  of  this  is  Dr.  Wm.  Beaumont,  a  young  Gentleman  with 
whom  I  have  been  personally  acquainted  for  several  years  past,  and  I  con- 
sider him  a  Man  of  the  strictest  Moral  honesty  and  Integrity.  As  a  Phy- 
sician and  Surgeon  I  think  him  fully  Intitled  to  the  Confidence  and  pat- 
ronage of  the  public  in  general.  I  am  also  acquainted  with  the  Character 
of  the  several  gentlemen  under  whose  Care  and  Inspection  he  Received  his 


11  Dr.  Truman  Powell  practiced  in  Buiiington  contemporaneously  with  Dr. 
John  Pomeroy.  He  was  born  in  1776  and  died  in  1S41.  He  was  a  man  "of  large 
stature,  powerful  physique,  and  great  energT  of  character." 

1-  There  were  two  Seth  Pomeroys  living  in  Vermont  about  this  period,  one  of 
whom  was  a  doctor,  who  died  in  New  Salem.  Mass..  on  March  IS,  1S21.  and  the 
other  was  a  brother  of  Dr.  John  Pomeroy.  The  latter  lived  at  Burlington  for  a 
time  and  later  located  in  St.  Albans.  He  was  a  merchant,  town  clerk,  post- 
master, and  a  member  of  the  General  Assembly  from  ISOO  to  1S0.5.  There  is 
nothing  to  indicate  that  this  certificate  was  written  by  a  physician,  so  the  proba- 
bilities are  that  it  was  by  Seth  Pomeroy.  layman  and  fellow-townsman.  I  lay 
stress  on  this  point  because  it  has  been  stated  that,  while  teaching  school  at 
Champlain.  Beaumont  read  books  from  the  library  of  Dr.  Seth  Pomeroy.  This 
is  evidently  an  error,  which  easily  crept  in  because  of  the  number  of  Pomeroys 
here  mentioned.  As  stated  above,  these  books  were  doubtless  obtained  from  Dr. 
John  Pomeroy.  (For  information  concerning  the  Pomeroys  I  am  indebted  to 
Mr.  A.  A.  Pomeroy,  secretary  of  the  Pomeroy  Association,  Sandusky,  Ohio,  and 
Dr.  J.  B.  Wheeler,' Burlington,  Vt.) 


32  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaionont 

Education,  and  from  their  known  Integrity  and  high  standing  in  their 
professional  Character  I  am  fully  Sensible  they  would  would  not  sanction 
any  one  that  Was  not  Duly  qualified. 

The  Cliamplain  Chapter  of  the  Royal  Arch  ^lasons,  of  which 
Benjamin  Chandler  was  high  priest,  also  bore  testimony  to  their 
companions  with  whoin  his  lot  might  be  east  in  the  future,  that 

The  bearer,  our  trusty  and  worthy  Companion  William  Beaumont,  has, 
at  our  chapter  at  St.  Albans,  known  by  the  name  of  Champlain  Chapter, 

regularly  passed  the  Ch ,  been  duly  marked  accepted  and  received  as 

most  excellent  Master  and  exalted  to  the  Sublime  degree  of  Royal  Arch 
Mason,  and  as  such  we  recommend  him  to  the  Friendly  notice  and  esteem 
of  our  worthy  companions.  The  Unspotted  Character  and  the  purity  of 
his  morals  demand  of  us  an  acknowledgement,  That  it  is  with  reluctance 
that  we  Consent  to  his  leaving  our  Masonic  Society,  he  having  served 
as  Scribe. 

Thus  he  left  the  home  where  he  had  gained  many  friends,  whose 
good  will  and  good  wishes  unanimously  attended  him  into  the  fields 
of  his  future  usefulness.  But  how  little  did  they,  and  how  little 
did  he.  realize  the  vastness  of  the  field  that  would  unfold  itself  for 
his  development. 

There  was  a  matter  connected  with  his  association  with  the 
Chandlers  which,  after  the  lapse  of  a  full  century,  may  properly 
be  mentioned  here.  ^Nlary  Chandler,  though  very  young,  became 
the  object  of  young  Beaumont's  avowed  attachment,  which  seemed 
most  ardent  and  devoted.  For  reasons  unknown,  possibly  political, 
her  father  withheld  his  approval,  though  he  gave  every  evidence  of 
being  fond  and  proud  of  his  pupil.  This  affair  seems  to  have 
ultimately  resulted  in  strained  relations  between  pupil  and  master, 
Mary  died  about  four  years  later,  and  it  is  said  that  the  young 
suitor,  after  having  left  St.  Albans,  made  a  brief  visit  unknown  to 
friends,  visiting  Mary's  grave  and  leaving  some  Avords  roughly 
carved  on  the  top  edge  of  the  slate  stone  slab.  At  any  rate,  my 
informant  was  able  to  read  fifty  years  later  the  two  words,  "My 
Mary,"  with  faint  marks  of  words  erased.  He  left  the  Chandler 
home  broken-hearted,  but  courageous,  full  of  confidence  in  his 
abilit}'  to  succeed  and  eager  to  meet  the  serious  problems  of  life 
ahead  of  him. 

In  June  of  this  year  the  Avar  clouds  that  had  been  gathering  for 
several  years  came  to  a  focus,  and  resulted  in  a  declaration  of  war 
with  England.     Already  several   important   engagements  had   oc- 


1806-1812 — Character  and  Attainments 


33 


P^^^^^i^.   —  ^ 


^  ^'  ^^,^:^' -iJ.-^  P-^i^  ^•o 


Certificate  of  good  character  from  the  Champlain  Chapter  of  Masons,  executed 
at  St.  Albans  on  September  8,  1812,  and  signed  by  Benjamin  Chandler  as  high 
priest  of  the  lodge. 


34  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiarn  Beaumont 

curred,  in  wliieh  the  Americans  had  proven  partially  victorious. 
Here  young  Beaumont  saw  his  opportunity,  not  only  to  display 
patriotism  and  to  put  into  immediate  practice  the  theory  of  medicine 
and  surgery  which  he  had  imbibed  in  the  village  of  St.  Albans,  but 
also  a  chance  to  earn  money,  of  which  he  was  sorely  in  need.  He 
crossed  Lake  Champlain  to  Plattsburgh.  where  a  portion  of  the 
Army  of  the  North  under  General  Dearborn  was  encamped,  pre- 
sented his  credentials  to  the  proper  authorities,  and  on  September 
13th  was  promptly  received  into  the  army  as  surgeon's  mate'-'  in 
the  "Sixth  Regiment  Infantry  on  brevet  from  General  Bloomfield." 
His  commission  was  issued  by  President  ^ladison  on  December  2, 
1812,  and  he  was  transferred  to  the  Sixteenth  Infantry  on  December 
12th.  During  this  particular  period  there  had  been  very  little 
activity  on  the  part  of  this  division  of  the  army,  so  that  on  January 
1,  1813,  he  suspended  duty  for  a  time  and  began  the  private 
practice  of  medicine  in  Plattsburgh.  In  the  meantime  he  took 
occasion  to  visit  his  friends,  the  Chandlers,  at  St.  Albans,  when  his 
preceptor  seems  to  have  expressed  serious  objections  to  his  reenter- 
ing the  army  and  endeavored  to  dissuade  him  from  returning  to 
the  service.  The  temptation  was,  however,  too  great,  and,  with  the 
return  of  activity  and  the  prospects  of  an  engagement  with  the 
enemy,  he  returned  to  the  army  and  was  transferred  again  on 
February  15th  to  the  Sixth  Regiment.  A  few  weeks  later  orders 
were  issued  to  that  division  of  the  army  to  march  to  Sacketts 
Harbor  to  embark  for  a  point  unknown.  Just  prior  to  leaving 
Plattsburgh  he  wrote  the  following  letter,^*  describing  his  move- 
ments, expressing  the  high  regard  and  esteem  in  Avhich  he  held  his 
preceptor,  but  at  the  same  time  revealing  clearly  the  differences,, 
political  and  social,  that  existed  between  them  : 

Ca.\[I'  Saraxac,  PLATTSurRcjii,  Mai'ch  10,  1813. 
Doctor  B.  Chandler,  St.  Albmis. 

Dear  Sir:  I  beg  pardon  for  not  writing  before,  but  my  weekly  expecta- 
tion of  seeing  you  here  was  the  reason  of  the  "crime  of  omission."  I  had 
given  up  the  idea  of  seeing  you  here,  and  anticipated  coming  to  St.  Albans 
on  Tuesday  next  with  a  number  of  candidates  for  the  R.  A.  Degree,  but 
in  this  am  disappointed.  We  have  this  day  received  orders  to  repair  to 
Sacketts  Harbor  with  all  possible  dispatch.  We  start  on  Saturday  next, 
expecting  to  join  8,000  at  that  place,  where  doubtless  we  shall  have  an 
obstinate  battle. 


w  Surgeon's  mate  wa.s  practically  the  .same  as  assistant  surgeon. 
"  This  and  the  succeeding  letter  are  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Bishop.     They  are 
given  with  but  few  unimportant  omissions. 


1806-1812 — Letters  to  His  Preceptor  35 

Pardon  me  tho'  for  not  first  informing  you  tliat  I  had  altered  my  cal- 
culation since  I  saw  you.  It  was  then  to  continue  in  private  practice  in 
this  place,  with  the  hopes  of  your  patronage  and  protection,  hut  I  am 
again  in  U.  S.  Service.  I  have  not  time  to  state  particular  reasons,  but 
honor  and  gratitude  to  the  officers  for  the  friendly  assistance  in  procuring 
the  appointment,  together  with  their  anxious  solicitude  for  me  to  con- 
tinue with  them,  was  one  cause  of  my  resuming  my  former  station. 
Could  I  but  see  you  I  would  satisfy  you  of  the  propriety  of  the  resolution, 
but  that  I  don't  expect  at  present,  perhaps  never.  Be  that  as  it  may,  my 
expiring  breath  will  be  an  invocation  for  your  prosperity,  my  last  ex- 
pression gratitude  for  your  generous  friendship  and  benevolent  kindness, 
and  my  eternal  sentiment,  unfeigned  friendship,  respectful  esteem,  sincere 
affection,  and  cautious  1 — e  for  you  and  yours.     .     .     . 

Therefore  I  go  to  meet  the  whistling  messengers  of  Death,  encountering 
winter's  Inclement  blasts,  toil,  fatigue,  and  painful  abstinence  to  beguile 
a  melancholy  thought.  Yea,  I'd  solicit  the  deadly  weapon  to  pierce  my 
heart  sooner  than  justly  incur  your  disesteem  or  general  disapprobation. 
My  chief  interest,  my  happiness,  my  all  is. in  your  gift,  yet  God  forbid 
that  I  should  ever  be  induced  unsuccessfully  to  ask  them  to  displeasure 
or  dissatisfaction. 

Dear  Sir,  excuse  an  obscure  sentence.  It  is  a  precious  idea  struggling 
for  birth,  though  long  and  constrained  to  remain  envelop'd  in  mysterj', 
and  must  still  so  continue  till  future  happy  events  shall  have  crown'd  my 
wishes  with  success.  .  .  .  AVonder  not,  .  .  .  surmise  no  error,  and 
time,  the  best  arbiter  of  events,  shall  enfold  the  true  meaning  of 
Your  devoted  Friend  and  Respectful  Humble  Servant, 

Wii.  Beaumoxt. 

P.  S.  My  best  respects  to  Mrs.  Chandler,  Mary,  and  the  children.  Tho' 
absent,  am,  not  forgetful  of  their  tender  kindness  and  amiable  dispositions. 

His  regiment  arrived  at  Sacketts  Harbor  on  March  27th,  and 
about  two  weeks  later  he  sent  a  second  letter. 

Sacketts  Harbour,  April  13.  1813. 
Doct.  Chandler,  St.  AJbans. 

Dear  Sir:  Notwithstanding  I  wrote  you  a  few  days  previous  to  my 
leaving  Plattsburgh,  I  feel  in  duty  bound  to  let  you  hear  from  me  in  what- 
ever situation  placed  or  wherever  bound;  therefore,  having  a  convenient 
opportunity,  shall  presume  to  trouble  your  patience,  perhaps  for  the 
last  time,  not  from  a  suppression  of  inclination  wholly  (tho'  not  favored 
with  any  replj"),  but  from  the  uncertainty  of  the  situation  in  which  I  may 
be  placed. 

However  widely  we  may  differ  in  political  opinion,  yet  the  sacred  ties 
of  gratitude  and  friendship  by  which  I  feel  myself  so  happily  bound  to  you 
and  your  family  can  never  permit  me  to  forget  the  sentiments  of  recip- 
rocal favor  and  esteem,  nor  diminish  my  personal  regard  for  so  kind  a 
benefactor  and  such  amiable  friends,  by  whom  I  was  ever  treated  with 


36  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Bcaiouont 

so  much  goodness  and  generosity.  Neither  do  I  think  that  your  political 
prejudices  are  so  great  as  to  render  a  candid  statement  of  the  present 
condition  of  this  part  of  the  army  wholly  unwelcome,  tho'  it  may  exasper- 
ate your  feelings  and  excite  many  severe  reflections  on  me  for  returning 
(as  you  probably  will  say),  "like  a  dog  to  his  vomit."  to  the  service 
again.! '■  but  I  had  more  than  one  object  to  induce  me.  The  first  was  that 
my  peculiar  local  and  pecuniary  circumstances  requir'd  prompt  pay  for 
my  services,  which  no  other  known  condition  would  so  readily  afford  me; 
the  second  was  the  prospects  of  an  immediate  and  more  extensive  prac- 
tice in  surgery,  and  several  other  inducements  not  to  be  mentioned. 

The  regular  force  at  this  place  is  not  so  great  as  common  report  would 
have  it.  There  are  about  .5.000  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines,  exclusive  of 
the  Second  Brigade,  which  arrived  a  few  days  since  in  the  adjacent  Towns 
of  Brownville  and  Watertown,  eight  or  ten  miles  distance.  The  Jesus- 
stealer,  or  Old  Rifle's  regiment,  has  not  yet  come  on.  General  Chandler 
takes  the  command,  no  other  being  present;  General  Wilkinsonio  is  ex- 
pected to  take  the  command  of  the  Northern  Army,  and  Colonel  Pikei"  is 
promoted  to  brigadier-general.  An  attack  on  Kingston  is  pretty  certain 
as  soon  as  the  lake  opens.  The  troops  are  all  very  healthy.  I  have  but 
three  or  four  sick  in  my  regiment;  have  lost  none  on  the  march,  nor 
since  we  arriv'd.  tho'  our  situation  is  miserable.  We  are  encamped  where 
the  mud  and  water  have  been  over  shoe  in  every  direction,  in  open  huts, 
without  any  straw,  or  more  than  our  blankets  to  cover  us.  No  new  or 
strange  disease  has  occurred  since  I  saw  you.  No  peculiar  treatment  is 
required  to  save  the  men;  the  old  Brunonian  practice,  a  little  varied  and 
changed  into  the  Chandlerian.  succeeds  almost  to  a  miracle.  I  have  no 
remarks  worthy  of  communicating,  having  had  no  very  singular  cases. 
Yesterday  we  shot  a  soldier  of  the  marine  corps  for  desertion;  we  could 
not  obtain  the  privilege  of  dissecting  him.  Next  Thursday  another  is  to 
be  shot. 

This  harbour  is  very  handsome  and  commodious;  the  little  naval  force 
very  respectable,  and  "not  to  be  sneer'd  at."  She  is  now  ready  to  sail, 
waiting  for  the  ice  to  clear  out,  which  will  be  in  a  few  days. 

The  night  preceding  my  departure  from  Plattsburgh  I  saw  Mr.  Farns- 
worth,  of  St.  Albans,  who  communicated  your  request  for  cash  from  me. 
with  which  I  am  extremely  sorry  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  comply,  for 
having  been  under  the  necessity  of  paying  all  the  money  I  had  rec'd  to 
refund  borrowed  and  in  d'fraying  necessary  expenses,  I  had  not  ten  dol- 
lars left  to  defray  the  common  exigencies  of  about  two  hundred  miles, 


13  The  New  England  Federalists  were  greatly  opposed  to  the  war  with  Great 
Britain  because  of  injurious  effects  on  their  commercial  interests.  The  Hartford 
Convention,  held  December  1.5.   1814.  gave  expression  to  this   opposition. 

i"  James  AYllkinson  had  been,  at  different  periods  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  adjutant-geneial.  brigadier-general,  and  secretary  of  the  Board  of  War. 
As  governor  of  the  Louisiana  Territory  in  180.5-6  he  intrigued  with  Aaron  Burr 
in  the  latter's  scheme  for  founding  an  empire  in  Mexico.  He  was  nevertheless 
made  major-general  during  the  War  of  1812. 

1"  He  refers  to  Colonel  Zebulon  Montgomery  Pike,  the  patriotic  officer  and  ex- 
plorer, who.  as  a  young  lieutenant,  was  sent  by  Jefferson  to  explore  the  sources 
of  the  Mississippi  river  and  later  to  fix  the  northern  boundary  of  Louisiana  Ter- 
ritory. It  was  on  this  expedition  that  he  sighted  the  monstrous  peak  in  the 
Rockies  which  now  bears  his  name. 


1806-1812— Letters  to  His  Preceptor  37 

and  I  have  rec'cl  none  since.  Therefore  I  beg  you  would  excuse  me  for 
not  complying.  I  should  have  written  by  Mr.  Farnsworth,  but  the  time 
and  his  haste  would  not  permit. 

I  have  much  on  my  mind,  many  unpleasant  reflections,  and  melancholy 
impressions,  but  feel  an  impropriety  in  suggesting  them.  Should  I  ever 
return  to  your  friendly  mansion,  again  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  domestic 
friendship  and  mutual  esteem,  you  shall  know  my  most  secret  impressions 
and  be  satisfied  as  to  the  real  motive  of  my  heart. 

I  have  only  to  add  the  tender  of  my  highest  respects  and  grateful  es- 
teem to  my  friends  in  that  place — Mrs.  Chandler,  Mary,  and  the  children 
in  particular.  I  am  very  unhappy  to  hear  that  they  have  been  sick.  I 
hope  they  have  again  regained  their  former  health  and  happiness,  which, 
God  Almighty  grant  for  your  sake  and  their  comfort,  may  continue  till  I 
am    permitted    to    revisit    you    and    them — henceforth    and    forevermore. 

Amen!  „.      „ 

Wm.  Beaumont. 

P.  S.  April  18th.  Permit  me  to  add  that  you  will  soon  hear  of  an  en- 
gagement. Day  after  tomorrow  we  embark  on  board  the  ships — forward 
moving  toward  the  enemy.  A  friendly  Adieu.  If  I  never  return,  re- 
member and  believe  that  my  sincerest  gratitude,  affection,  and  esteem  be- 
long to  you  and  your  family. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

1812-1820. 

What  happened  after  this  is  best  described  in  his  own  words  in 
a  diary,  which  is  reproduced  here  in  full.  In  one  small  volume  was 
contained  his  description  of  sundry  trips,  marches,  and  engage- 
ments, while  in  another  notebook  were  jotted  down  his  observations 
concerning  the  prevalent  diseases  in  the  army  and  their  treatment. 
These  two  diaries  are  so  characteristic  and  so  typical  of  the  different 
sides  of  his  character  that  we  present  them  separately,  as  they  exist 
in  fact,  even  at  the  expense  of  slight  repetition,  instead  of  com- 
bining the  two  into  one  narrative  for  the  sake  of  chronological  order 
and  sequence.  The  pages  of  both  of  these  little  volumes  are  brown 
and  musty  with  age,  but  on  the  whole  remarkably  well  preserved. 
The  handwriting  is  (piite  distinct,  as  a  rule  cai'efully  executed,  and 
only  a  few  pages,  which  evidently  at  some  time  had  been  wet.  could 
not  be  deciphered. 

Sept.  8th,  1812.  Quit  my  Preceptor,  Dr.  Benjn.  Chandler,  St.  Albans, 
Vt.,  under  whose  friendly  inspiration  and  instruction  I  happily  pursued  my 
medical  studies  for  2  years  to  my  own  satisfaction  and  that  of  my  Pre- 
ceptor. Came  to  Plattsburgh.  Joined  the  Army  as  Surgeon's  mate  of  the  6th 
Infty.  on  the  13th  inst.  Continued  duty  as  such  till  Jany.  1st,  1813,  at 
which  period  I  suspended  duty  on  account  of  the  unfavorable  prospects  of 
the  army  at  that  time,  and  proposed  to  the  people  of  Plattsburgh  to  com- 
mence private  practice  in  that  and  the  neighboring  vicinities.  Met  with 
good  encouragement  during  six  weeks,  in  which  time  visited  my  respected 
friends  at  St.  Albans. 

On  the  15th  Feby.  recommenced  service  in  6th  Infty.  on  account  of  the 
prospect  there  was  then  of  an  engagement  with  the  Enemy.  Continued 
in  camp  Saranaci  till  19th  March,  when  the  1st  Brigade  marched  for 
Sacketts  Harbor,  a  distance  of  180  miles,  passing  thro  a  delightful  country 
and  many  beautiful  Villages  and  Settlements,  of  which  Malone  was  the 
first  after  leaving  Plattsburgh.  a  very  flourishing  Town  situated  on  an  ex- 
cellent mill  stream  and  surrounded  by  a  fine  country  of  land.  Then  thro 
Bangor,  Constable,  Hopkinton,  all  very  fine  Townships,  to  Canton,  a 
Town  very  flourishing — people  wealthy,  affording  excellent  accommoda- 
tions to  travellers — ^passing  through  a  Town  called  Governour,  Situated 
on  what  is  called  Salmon  river,  not  much  to  be  admired.  Then  thro 
several   Towns   and   small   villages   of  little   note   to   Watertown,   a  very 


1  United  States  barracks,  four  miles  above  Plattsburgh  on  the  Saranac  river. 

38 


1812-1820— ^Var  of  1812 


39 


pleasant  village  standing  on  the  west  side  of  Black  river,  within  10  miles 
of  the  harbor;  it  is  a  Shire  Town  and  very  flourishing.  From  thence  to 
Sacketts  Harbor,  where  we  encampt  from  the  27th  IMarch  till  an  imbarka- 
tion  on  board  the  Ships  for  the  Enemj-'s  shores.  Sacketts  Harbor  is  a 
small,  but  very  handsome  and  commodious  harbor;  the  village  is  small, 
irregular,  and  dirty;  m.uch  business  is  carried  on  in  the  place — more 
especially  Ship  building  at  this  time. 

The  naval  force  is  very  respectable  and  quite  formidable,  consisting  of 
one  Ship,  mounting  twenty-four  24-pounders;  one  Brig,  eighteen  18- 
pounders;  nine  Schooners  of  3,  6,  9,  12  Guns,  with  pilot  boats  and  cutters 
duly  armed,-  in  addition  to  which  is  now  on  the  stocks  a  frigate  of  thirty- 
six  36-pounders,  calculating  to  be  done  by  the  1st  of  June. 

Sacketts  Harbor,  20th  April,  1813.  The  first  Brigade,  with  several  de- 
tachments from  other  corps,  in  readiness  and  waiting  in  suspense  to  em- 


WILLIAM  BEAUMOxNT,   *dva 


5o- 
id, 
)ih 
id. 

:ti- 

of 

rte 

llv 


ppopo-sin*  fo  rommencT'  the  practice  of 
rHrS[C&  SI  HGEiil',in  the  town  of 
IMattshur^^h,  lolicits  the  patronage  of  the 
_:;<)0(l  pcc'ple  of  this  anil  the  neighboring 
>iciniues — proffering,  a»an  equi>alent  for 
ihcir  eustom  and  support,  his  utmost  skill, 
fid  el  ft  V  aiK!  indefatigable  alteatioo  to  the 
busine^is  of  his  prufession. 

Fur   further    information,  inquire    at 
>\'arford  xmA  HKseall's  office,  or  at  Major    AN. 
"Warfortl's  house.  * 

riaUsbitrghy  Jan,  IJ,  1813.  , 


J 

J 


An  advertisement  in  the  Plattsburgh  Republican,  January  11,  1813,  announcing 
the  commencement  of  practice  of  medicine  (physic  and  surgery)  at  Plattsburgh. 

bark  on  board  the  navy  for  an  expected  attack  on  the  enemy.  Genl. 
Dearborns  arrived  in  Town  tonight. 

21st.  AVeather  rainy,  wind  southeast.  Sick  mending.  Troops  waiting 
for  orders  to  embark.  11  o'clock,  nothing  remarkable  has  occurred  today. 
Wind  south,  weather  rainy. 

22nd.  Embarked  with  Capt.  Humphreys.  Capt.  Walworth  and  Muhlen- 
burg  and  Compy.  on  board  the  Schooner  .Julia.  The  rest  of  the  Brigade, 
the  2d  with  Fourth  (?)  Rifle  Regts.  and  the  light  artillery  on  board  the 
Ship,  Brig  and  other  Schooners,  remained  in  the  Harbor  till  next  morning. 

23rd,  11  Ock.  A.  M.  Weighed  Anchor  and  put  out  under  the  impression 
of  going  to  Kingston.  Got  out  15  or  20  miles.  Came  on  a  storm.  Wind 
ahead  and  the  fleet  returned  in  to  harbor.  No  one  permitted  to  go  on 
shore. 


-Compare  with  Roosevelt's  "Xaval  TVar  of  1812."  page  223. 

^Herny  Dearborn,  of  Massachusetts,  who  was  chosen  first  major-general  and 
commander-in-chief  of  the  Armv  of  the  North,  had  been  secretary  of  war  from 
1801  to  1809  in  Madison^s  cabinet. 


42 


Life  anfl  Lfflfrs  of  Dr.  Willidni  Beaumont 


l%it<yiA,*0* f  «uX-  ^Aa 


-<^<^CcaX^   AA^-'i^j 


The  first  page  of  Beaumont's  descriptive  diary  while  surgeon's  mati-  in  the 
War  of  1812,  describing  his  leave-taking  from  Dr.  Chandler,  joining  the  army, 
entering  private  practice,  and  reentering  the  army. 

24th,  6  Ock.  A.  M.  Put  out  of  harbor  with  a  fair  wind,  tho  mild  and 
pleasant,  the  fleet  sailing  in  fine  order,  affording  a  very  pleasant  scene 
Thro  the  day. 

25th,  6  Ock.  A.  M.  ^Morning  most  delightful.  Wind  fresh  and  increas- 
ing, not  fair,  obliging  us  to  beat.     Getting  along  slowly. 


1812-1820 — Embarks  on  Schooner  Julia 


43 


,^^1,.^^'^  """^^ 


--^uArvj 


The  second  page  of  Beaumont's  descriptive  diary  shown  on  opposite  page, 
describing  his  march  from  Plattsburgh  to  Sacketts  Harbor. 

27th.  AVind  pretty  strong  in  the  morning,  increasing  to  a  strong  blow, 
so  that  the  swells  run  high,  tossing  our  vessels  smartly  about.  Several 
seasick — was  myself.  At  half-past  four  o'clock  passed  by  the  mouth  of 
Niagara  River.  This  circumstance  baffled  our  imagination  where  we 
were  going.     We  were  first  impressed  with  the  idea  of  Kingston,  then  to 


44  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  Wlllieim  Beauynont 

Niagara,  but  now  our  destination  must  be  Little  Yorl^.  At  sunset  came  in 
view  of  York  Town  &  tlie  Fort,  where  we  lay  off  all  night  within  3  or  4 
leagues. 

27th.  Sailed  into  harbor  and  came  to  anchor  a  little  below  the  British 
Garrison.  We  now  filled  the  boats  and  affected  a  landing,  though  not 
without  some  difficulty  and  the  loss  of  some  men.  The  British  marched 
their  troops  from  the  Garrison  down  the  [hill]  to  cut  us  off  in  landing,, 
and  then  they  had  every  advantage.  They  could  not  effect  their  [plan]. 
A  hot  engagement  ensued,  in  which  the  enemy  lost  nearly  a  third  of  their 
men  and  were  soon  compelled  to  quit  the  field,  leaving  their  dead  and 
wounded  strewed  in  every  direction.  We  lost  but  very  few  in  the  engage- 
ment. The  enemy  returned  into  garrison,  but  from  the  loss  sustained  in 
the  1st  engagement,  the  undaunted  courage  of  our  men,  and  the  brisli 
firing  from  our  fleet  into  the  Garrison  Vv'ith  12  and  32-pounders,  they  were 
soon  obliged  to  evacuate  it  and  retreat  with  all  possible  speed.  Driven 
to  this  alternative,  they  devised  the  inhuman  project  of  blowing  up  their 
Magazine  (containing  300  Bbls.  powder),  the  explosion  of  which,  shocking 
to  mention,  had  almost  totally  destroyed  our  Army.  Above  300  were 
wounded,  and  about  60  killed  dead  on  the  spot  by  stones  of  all  dimensions 
falling  like  a  shower  of  hail  in  the  midst  of  our  ranks.*  The  enemy  had 
about  20  killed  and  wounded  by  the  explosion,  tho  the  main  body  had 
retreated  far  out  of  the  Garrison.  After  this  sad  disaster  our  Army 
marched  into  the  Garrison,  hawled  down  the  British  coat  of  arms  (which 
they  were  too  haughty  to  do),  and  raised  the  American  Standard  on  its 
place.  Our  Army  was  about  1,500  strong — Theirs  about  the  same.  En- 
campt  in  Garrison  this  night,  mounting  a  guard  500  strong  to  secure  our 
safety  through  the  night.  A  most  distressing  scene  ensues  in  the  Hos- 
pital— nothing  but  the  Groans  of  the  wounded  and  agonies  of  the  Dying 
are  to  be  heard.  The  Surgeons  wading  in  blood,  cutting  off  arms,  legs, 
and  trepanning  heads  to  rescue  their  fellow  creatures  from  untimely 
deaths.  To  hear  the  poor  creatures  crying,  "Oh,  Dear!  Oh.  Dear!  Oh,  my 
God,  my  God!  Do,  Doctor,  Doctor!  Do  cut  off  my  leg,  my  arm,  my  head, 
to  relieve  me  from  misery!  I  can't  live,  I  can't  live!"  would  have  rent  the 
heart  of  steel,  and  shocked  the  insensibility  of  the  most  hardened  assassin 
and  the  cruelest  savage.  It  awoke  my  liveliest  sympathy,  and  I  cut  and 
slashed  for  48  hours  without  food  or  sleep.  My  God!  Who  can  think  of 
the  shocking  scene  when  his  fellovz-creatures  lie  mashed  and  mangled  in 
every  part,  with  a  leg,  an  arm,  a  head,  or  a  body  ground  in  pieces,  with- 
out having  his  very  heart  pained  with  the  acutest  sensibility  and  his  blood 
chill  in  his  veins.     Then,  who  can  behold  it  wiihcut  agonizing  sympathy! 

28th,  10  Ock.  A.  M.  Just  got  time  to  suspend  capital  operation,  whilst 
I  can  tal;e  a  little  refreshments  to  sustain  life,  for  the  first  time  since 
four  o'clock  yesterday.  Return  again  to  the  bloody  scene  of  distress,  to 
continue  dressing.  Amputating  and  Trepanning.  Dressed  rising  of  50 
patients,  from  simple  contusions  to  the  worst  of  compound  fractures,  more 

■•General  Pike,  commanding  a  force  of  about  1,700  men,  led  this  attack  and 
was  fatally  wounded  by  the  explosion.  He  lived  just  long  enough  to  hear  the 
Annerican  shout  of  victory. 


1812-1820— Battle  of  Little  York  45 

than  half  of  the  last  description.  Performed  two  cases  of  amputation  and 
one  of  trepanning.  12  Ock.  P.  M.,  retired  to  rest  my  much  fatigued  body 
and  mind. 

29th.  Dressed  most  of  wounds  over,  Trepanned  two.  This  day  ordered 
to  get  the  sick  and  wounded  on  board  the  fleet,  to  be  transported  to 
Sacketts  Harbor.  Sent  them  to  the  ships,  and  the  most  of  them,  were 
sent  back  again,  very  much  to  the  injury  of  the  patients.  One  of  those 
amputated  yesterday  does  well;  the  other  died  in  about  12  hours,  the 
fracture  being  in  the  thigh  and  very  much  contused. 

30th.  Dressed  the  wounded,  most  of  them  doing  well;  the  two  cases 
of  trepanning  doing  well.  The  Militia  and  people  giving  themselves  up  to 
be  paroled,  nearly  1,700  since  the  27th. 

May  1st.  About  my  professional  employment,  dressing  the  wounded, 
the  most  of  them  doing  well.  Amputated  an  arm.  On  orders  for  getting 
all  the  sick  and  wounded  on  board  prevents  any  more  operations  today. 
Several  more  will  have  to  be  performed.  The  wounded  on  board.  All  the 
trotDps  ordered  to  embark.  All  on  board  at  six  o'clock.  Brought  off  public 
property  taken  from  his  Majesty's  stores,  estimated  to  the  amount  of 
2,000,000  and  a  half  dollars.  Burnt  the  ruins  of  the  Government  house,  the 
Block-house,  one  or  two  public  stores  and  an  old  sloop. 

2nd.  Wind  unfavorable  to  sailing  out — consequently  we  remain  in  the 
■fleet  where  we  were  today.  The  sick  and  wounded  lying  distributed 
among  the  fleet.  I  can  not  note  their  several  conditions — those  on  board 
this  (The  Julia)  doing  well. 

3rd.  Still  lying  at  anchor,  waiting  for  a  fair  v/ind,  or  something  else. 
The  wounded  do  well. 

4th.     At  anchor  in  York  harbor,  waiting  for  the  storm  to  subside. 

5th.  Still  at  Anchor,  wind  high,  men  sickening  and  miserably  crowded 
in  the  hold  of  the  ship. 

6th.  Not  weighed  anchor  yet,  wind  high,  weather  stormy  and  bois- 
terous. 

7th.  Storm  subsiding  at  night,  cold  and  chilly.  Men  complaining  much 
of  Diarrhoea  and  Dysenteries.  The  wounded  doing  far  better  than  could 
be  expected  in  such  a  miserable  condition. 

8th.  Weighed  anchor  and  got  under  way  for  Niagara.  Arrived  here 
at  5  Ock.  Landed  the  troops.  This  morning  one  man  died  in  the  hold, 
mainly,  I  believe,  from  suffocation,  as  he  had  not  been  much  ill,  except 
a  slight  wound  on  the  back  by  a  stone  from  the  explosion.  Had  not  time 
to  examine  him. 

9th.  Tents  struck  at  Four  Mile  Creek,  four  miles  from  the  Garrison. 
Genl.  Boice  takes  comd.  of  the  Brigade. 

10th.  The  Fleet  sailed  for  Sacketts  Harbor  this  morning  before  sunrise, 
carrying  part  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  are  expected  to  bring  on  more 
troops  from  the  harbor. 

May  11th.  This  morning  arrived  from  Oswego  in  Sail-boats  part  of  the 
2d  Regt.  Artillery,  between  three  and  four  hundred.  In  the  afternoon  1 
attended   the  sale   of  Genl.   Sheaffe's  baggage   at  public   auction  taken   at 


46  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^Yill^am  Beaumont 

York.''  Saw  his  most  superb  Scarlet  coat  sold  for  $55,  which  I  presume 
cost  not  less  than  $300.  It  was  the  most  elegant  thing  I  ever  saw — it  was 
most  elegantly  embroidered  in  Gold  and  of  the  finest  quality.  His  other 
things  sold  very  high,  being  good  and  much  wanted  by  our  officers — I 
purchased  nothing. 

12th,  13th,  14th,  15th.    Nothing  worthy  of  note.    Have  not  been  out  of  camp. 

16th  and  17th.     Nothing  worthy  of  remark. 

18th.  Visited  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  that  Great  National  Curiosity,  which 
at  one  viev/  impresses  the  mind  of  every  sensible  beholder  with  sublime 
and  reverential  Ideas.  To  contemplate  the  magnificent  works  of  creation 
in  viewing  such  an  immense  column  of  water,  precipitated  with  such  tre- 
mendous velocity  over  a  stupendous  height  of  200  feet  perpendicular 
descent,  raising  from  its  force  a  mountain  of  foam  and  clouds  of  fog, 
forming  all  the  beautiful  prismatic  colors  of  the  rainbow,  almost  within 
your  reach,  would  force  the  incredulity  of  an  Atheist  to  acknowledge  the 
existence  of  a  God.  In  passing  from  the  Garrison  up  the  River  had  a 
plain,  uninterrupted  view  of  Fort  George,  his  Majesty's  Garrison,  about  a 
mile  above  Fort  Niagara  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  mouth  of  the  Niagara 
River,  and  of  all  the  settlement  on  that  shore  to  the  Falls,  a  distance  of 
18  miles,  which  are  pleasant  and  handsomely  situated.  Queenstown  is 
situated  on  a  platt,  at  the  foot  of  a  pretty  high  hill,  on  which  is  a  Fort, 
where  Genl.  Van  Renssellear  was  defeated  and  Genl.  Brock  killed. s 
Chippewa  is  a  small  village  one  mile  above  the  Falls,  very  pleasantly 
situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Niagara  River. 

19th.  Returned  from  the  Falls,  visiting  an  Indian  Village  about  3 
miles  off  the  road.  Was  much  delighted  at  some  particular  maneuvers 
that  occurred.  They  appear  to  have  been  industrious  in  cultivating  their 
farms.    Their  farms  were  pleasant,  their  land  well  tilled. 

20th.  Part  of  the  Fleet  returned  from  Sacketts  Harbor  laden  with 
troops;  also  about  400  from  Oswego  arrived  in  boats. 

21st.  The  rest  of  the  Fleet,  excepting  the  Ship,  arrived  today,  bringing 
in  the  whole  about  1,800  men;  13  boat  loads  from  Oswego  also  arrived 
today  with  about  500  men. 

22nd.  General  orders  for  preparing  for  Battle,  and  an  attack  on  Fort 
George. 

23rd,  24th,  25th,  26th.    Waiting  for  orders  to  embark. 

27th.     Embarked  at  break  of  day.     Col.  Scott,'  with  800  men  for  the 


s  Sir  Roger  H.  Sheaffe.  major-general  in  the  British  army,  who  afterward  de- 
feated the  Americans  at  Queenstown  in  1813. 

"  In  the  battle  of  Queenstown  General  Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  commanding 
the  New  York  militia  and  a  few  regulars,  sent  1,000  men  across  to  the  Canada 
side  of  the  Niagara.  The^"  succeeded  in  carrying  the  British  batteries  on  the 
heights,  commanded  by  the  British  General  Brock.  More  troops  were  necessary 
to  hold  the  vantage  gained  because  of  British  reenforcements  from  Fort  George. 
General  Van  Rensselaer  then  ordered  the  remaining  division  of  New  York  militia, 
1,200  strong,  to  hasten  to  the  rescue.  They  refused  to  obey  the  order,  declaring 
that  they  were  there  to  defend  the  United  States  and  not  to  invade  Canada. 
Defeat   followed,   and  General  Van  Rensselaer   in  disgust   resigned   his  command. 

'  Winfield  Scott,  whose  general  appearance  and  strict  military  discipline  won 
for  him  the  epithet  of  "Old  Fuss  and  Feathers,"  afterward  became  brigadier- 
general,  and  in  1841  succeeded  General  Macomb  as  commander-in-chief  of  the 
United  States  army. 


1812-1820— storming  of  Fort  George  47 

advance  Guard,  supported  by  the  first  Brigade,  comd.  by  Genl.  Boyd, 
moved  in  concert  with  the  shipping  to  the  enemy's  shore  and  landed  under 
the  enemy's  Battery  and  in  front  of  their  fire,  under  cover  of  our  shipping, 
with  surprising  success,  not  losing  more  than  30  men  in  the  engagement, 
tho  the  enemy's  whole  force  was  placed  in  the  most  advantageous  situa- 
tion possible.  Notwithstanding,  we  routed  them  from  their  mounted  and 
chosen  spot,  and  drove  them  out  of  the  country.  Took  possession  of  the 
Town  (Newark)  and  Garrison.  Killed  of  the  British,  rising  100;  wounded, 
rising  200;  prisoners,  100. 

28th.  Part  of  the  Army  proceeded  to  Queenstown,  6  miles  above. 
Caus'd  the  enemy  to  evacuate  that  Garrison.    Took  some  prisoners. 

29th.  In  peaceable  possession  of  the  Fort,  the  enemy  retreating  for 
Kingston.    Comd.  in  the  G.  Hospital. 

30th.     No  alteration.    The  fleet  sails  for  S.  Harbor. 

31st.     As  usual,  fair.    Well  in  the  place. 

June  1st,  1813.    As  we  were. 

2nd.     Genl.  Winder'ss  Regt.  moved  for  a  part  unknown  to  me. 

3rd.  Fired  a  Feu-de-joy  in  consequence  of  Genl.  Geo.  Prevost's  defeat 
in  an  attempt  to  land  his  troops  at  Sacketts  Harbor  and  burn  and  destroy 
the  place. 9 

21st.  Mov'd  the  wounded  from  the  Hospital  in  the  Garrison  at  Newark 
to  Lewiston,  on  our  side.  Took  a  walk  into  the  country,  returned  just 
before  tattoo  and  retired  to  rest.  Recommenced  duty  in  Genl.  Hospital, 
Lev/iston,  28th  June.  Continued  duty  till  13th  Aug.,  when,  being  unwell 
and  ordered  to  Ft.  Geo.,  suspended  active  duty.io  Aug.  22nd  reed,  orders 
to  repair  to  Fort  George  immediately.    Gone. 

The  small  notebook  containing  the  following  medical  notes  is 
bound  in  buckskin,  and  could  readih^  be  carried  in  the  pocket.  It 
shows  evidence  of  much  hard  wear,  and  was  doubtless  with  him  in  the 
thick  of  the  fray.  AA^hile  some  of  these  observations  were  made  for 
official  record,  it  is  evident  that  in  great  part  they  were  simply  the 
expression  of  that  almost  innate  tendency  to  record  everything  that 


8  General  William  H.  Winder  led  successful  expeditions  below  Port  Erie  in 
1812  and  at  Stony  Creek  in  1813,   but  was  defeated  at  Bladensburg  in  1814. 

^  While  the  Americans  were  moving-  against  York  the  British,  under  General 
George  Prevost,  took  advantage  of  the  unfortified  state  of  Sacketts  Harbor. 
While  they  succeeded  in  destroying  some  of  the  stores,  they  were  finally  re- 
pulsed, with  considerable  loss,  by  the  militia,  who  were  left  in  charge  of  General 
Jacob  Brown. 

'"  In  describing  the  lamentable  conditions  prevailing  at  Port  George  at  this 
time,  Surgeon  Mann,  medical  director,  wrote:  "During  the  month  of  August  an 
uncommon  proportion  of  the  army  was  sick  or  unfit  for  duty.  More  than  one- 
third  of  the  soldiers  were  on  the  sick  reports.  The  officers  shared  with  the  pri- 
vates in  the  prevailing  disease.  Half  of  the  medical  staff  attached  to  the  regi- 
ments were  also  unable  to  perform  their  duty.  Of  seven  surgeon's  mates  at- 
tached to  the  hospital  department,  one  died  and  three  had  leave  of  absence  by 
reason  of  indisposition;  the  other  three  were  for  a  short  period  sick.  So  general 
was  the  sickness,  the  remaining  surgeons  could  not  do  full  justice  to  their  pa- 
tients. At  the  time  when  the  returns  of  the  sick  in  general  hospital  counted  be- 
tween six  and  seven  hundred,  there  were  only  three  surgeons  of  this  department 
present  for  duty."    (Brown's  "Medical  Department  of  the  United  States  Army.") 


48 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  Willi'ini  Beetumejnt 


\^r  f.„  -,''t-  f^  ^■^ 


A  page  from  a  notebook  of  medical  observations  kept  bv  Beaumont  during 
the  War  of  1812. 

interested  him  greatly,  whether  his  own  innermost  thoughts  or  the 
words  of  A\asdom  of  others. 

September  13th,  1812.  Commenced  practice  in  the  U.  S.  Army  as 
surg's.  Mate  of  the  6th  Regt.  Infy.  Prevailing  type  of  Disease,  Intermit- 
tent, Typhus,  Dysenteries  and  Rheumatism. 


1812-1820 — Medical  Observations 


49 


•^  li*'*^ 


'«.^<? 


i,-^ 


^fc^i^i^^^i 


^1^  V''**'**-*^' ••— «^^*^ 


^<^1^^  /&<J^Ji^^ei^t^-^   <^ 


The  succeeding-  page  of  the  notebook  shown  on  opposite  page,  outlining  his 
treatment  of  the  prevailing  diseases. 

Treatment  of  Intermittent — in  the  first  instance,  gave  an  Emetic  of 
Tart.  Ant.,  followed  with  a  brisk  cathartic  of  Jalap.  Rhei,  01  Ricin.  Some- 
times combined  with  calomel,  then  Sudorifics,  chiefly  Antimonials  and 
Alkalies,  and  a  free  use  of  the  bark  in  Decoct.,  which  treatment  gener- 
allv  effected  a  recoverv  in  a  week  or  ten  days,  tho  some  obstinate  cases 


50  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^yiUia^n  Beaumont 

run  on  for  three  or  four  weeks,  terminating  in  Typhus  Gravior,  in  which 
I  gave  bark  wine,  Opium,  Serpintaria  and  the  Brunonian  Pill  with  a  lib- 
eral hand  and  with  very  good  success,  not  losing  more  than  one  out  of  fifty. 
But  from  a  particular  [case]  learnt  that  small  and  oft  repeated  doses  of 
Ipecac,  Emet.  Tart.  &  Opii.,  with  the  Saline  draught,  were  preferable  to 
any  other  mode  of  practice.  The  Ipecac  or  Emet.  Tart,  in  doses  from  % 
to  grain  every  three  hours,  with  half  grain  Opii.,  had  an  astonishing  effect 
in  cleansing  the  prima  viae,  cleaning  the  tongue  of  the  foul  dark  coat 
and  opening  the  cutaneous  pores,  and  of  course  obviating  the  symptoms. 
Cal.  in  extreme  low  cases  was  had  recourse  to  with  wonderful  success  in 
doses  from  Yz  gr.  to  gr.  every  three  hours  till  the  Glands  were  touched, 
especially  when  there  was  an  affection  of  Lungs,  which  was  generally  the 
case  in  the  Hospital  at  this  time.  The  Bark  and  wine  were  in  most  cases 
of  Typhus  detriment  in  and  often  fatal,  as  was  obvious  from  that  fatal 
practice  in  some  of  the  other  departments  of  the  Army.  Instance  15th 
Regt.,  who  died  at  the  rate  of  two  out  of  three  under  that  practice. 

In  Dysentaries  and  Diarrhoeas  half  a  grain  Ipecac  and  a  simple  solu- 
tion of  Sal  Natron  were  generally  sufficient  to  carry  off  the  disease. 

The  Rheumatism,  in  the  exposed  situation  in  which  the  men  were 
placed,  was  very  difficult  to  cure.  The  Opium,  Guaiac,  and  Spirits  were 
most  useful  in  checking  the  pain — sometimes  removing  them,  but  not 
often. 

Near  the  Middle  of  November  the  Army  moved  from  Plattsburgh  to  the 
Province  Line,  45  Deg.  North,  taking  no  tents,  and  destitute  of  covering, 
save  a  Blanket  or  two,  lying  out  in  open  air  after  marching  all  day 
through  the  mud  and  water,  and  thus  exposed  to  the  inclemencies  of  the 
weather  for  a  week,  encampt  in  the  woods.  After  which  the  army  re- 
turned to  Plattsburgh,  and  there  encamp'd  again  in  the  woods  without 
Tents  or  Huts  the  first  night,  which  was  very  rainy  and  cold;  the  Second 
also  was  wet  and  windy.  They  then  moved  to  Saranac,  and  encamped 
again  in  the  woods,  during  which  time  the  weather  was  very  various — 
warm  and  cold,  sometimes  raining,  sometimes  snowing — the  men  lying 
upon  the  cold,  wet  ground,  with  only  a  fire  before  their  tents,  for  two, 
three  or  four  weeks.  Whilst  in  this  wretched  and  deplorable  situation, 
the  men  were  seized  with  Dysentary,  Intermittants,  Pleurisy,  Peripneu- 
mony,  Cynanche  and  Rheumatism,  which  made  the  very  woods  ring  with 
coughing  and  groaning. 

The  Dysentary,  I  found,  soon  yielded  to  the  use  of  Opium  and  Ipecac  in 
doses  of  half  a  grain  each  to  a  grain  of  Opium  at  night  and  half  a  grain 
in  the  Morning  without  the  Ipecac — some,  however,  would  run  on  and  ter- 
minate in  Typhus. 

Intermittants  were  found  to  yield  to  the  use  of  Opium  &  Tart.  Ant.  in 
doses  of  half  a  grain  of  the  former  combined  with  a  grain  of  the  latter 
every  three  or  four  hours.  Where  the  Stomach  was  foul,  it  first  required 
a  full  Emetic  of  Tart.  Emt.  &  the  Intestines  cleaned  by  brisk  cathartic. 

In  Pleurisy  and  Peripneumony,  bleeding  on  the  first  attack  till  the 
symptom  subsided  was  the  most  salutary  of  anything,  and  when  omitted 


1812-1820 — Treatment  of  Prevailing  Diseases  51 

M^as  always  regretted,  as  it  very  much  retarded  the  recovery  of  the  patient 
and  increased  the  violence  of  disease.  Often  one  copious  bleeding,  the 
use  of  Opium.  Glyr.  Senn.  Tart.  Ant.  and  Digitalis  in  equal  proportions  by 
bulk,  were  verily  efficacious  in  relieving  the  cough,  and  generally  the 
only  medicine  required  to  cure  the  disease.  Blistering  became  necessary 
in  obstinate  cases  when  bleeding  did  not  relieve  the  stitch  in  the  side  and 
pain  in  the  head,  which  it  seldom  ever  faird  of  doing  when  had  recourse 
to  in  time. 

The  treatment  of  the  foregoing  diseases  I  am  warranted  in  adapting 
from  the  happy  issue  and  successful  termination  of  more  than  two  hun- 
dred cases,  out  of  which  not  one  has  died  while  under  my  care. 

Some  cases  run  on  for  some  time,  terminating  in  a  bilious  remittant, 
with  a  continual  vomiting  and  rejecting  everything  taken  in  the  Stomach; 
with  Diarrhoea,  in  which  cases  the  mucilage  of  Gum  Arabic  and  Elix. 
Nit.  have  soon  corrected  the  irritability  of  the  stomach,  and  saved  the 
patient,  who  otherwise  must  have  died. 

Tuesday,  Dec.  8th.  Weather  warmish  and  cloudy,  air  damp,  ground 
thq,wing  and  wet.  Men  complaining  of  Dysentary,  Pleurisy,  and  Peripneu- 
mony.  Bleed  without  measure  or  weight,  give  Opium,  Glyr.  Tart.  Ant. 
and  Digit,  in  pleurisy  Peripneumony,  and  have  the  happiness  to  see  my 
patients  recovering  daily  under  the  treatment.  Evening  damp  and  chilly. 
Men  lying  in  tents,  with  small  fires  in  front. 

Wednesday,  Dec.  9th.  1812.  AVeather  chilly  and  cloudy.  Several  new 
cases  this  morning.  The  old  ones  doing  well  under  the  former  treatment — 
cough  subsiding,  pains  diminishing  and  appetite  amending.  Gave  this 
morning  the  Anti-Dysenteric  Pill  to  those  who  were  complaining  of  bad 
relax.  In  the  Typhus  cases  gave  Opium,  Ipecac,  Tart.  Ant.  half  grain 
each  every  three  hours  with  evident  good  effects.  In  the  case  of  one 
Covet,  who  has  been  for  two  weeks  verj^  low  with  the  Typhus,  so  as  to 
be  unable  to  help  himself  or  even  to  take  scarce  any^  nourishment  on  his 
stomach  v>'ithout  immediately  rejecting  same,  followed  with  a  constant 
straining  to  vomit,  he  was  seized  last  night  with  a  most  excruciating  pain 
in  his  left  side,  extending  from  his  hip  to  the  cap  of  his  left  shoulder.  So 
severe  was  the  pain  that  he  could  scarce  breathe  without  screaming;  his 
extremities  cold,  and  no  pulsation  to  be  felt.  Indeed,  I  thought  he  would 
have  died  in  spite  of  medicine,  but  bj^  giving  60  gtts.  laud.,  repeated  in 
about  15  minutes,  with  the  use  of  warm  fomentations,  he  got  easier,  arte- 
rial action  was  restored,  and  he  was  made  quite  comfortable  thro  the 
night  by  repeating  the  laudanum  every  two  hours  in  doses  of  15  gtts.  at 
a  time.  The  Elix.  Vitriol  in  doses  of  12  gtts.  every  two  hours,  with  a 
tablespoonful  of  the  mucilage  of  Gum  Arabic,  was  the  first  thing  that 
would  check  the  vomiting  and  nausea.  Today  his  stomach  bears  food  in 
small  quantities;  no  vomiting  this  day,  but  very  weak.  Wednesdays  even- 
ing, 8  o'clock. 

,  Thursday,  11  A.  M.  Men  in  Hospital  better.  Covet  continues  to  mend 
under  the  use  of  laudanum  Elix.  Vit.  and  broth.  Several  new  cases  of 
Pleurisy,    Peripneumony^,    and   Dysentary,    in   which   I   continue  to   bleed. 


52  Life  and  Leitcys  of  Dr.  \VilIia))i  Bcaitniont 

give  opium,  Tai't.  Ant.  and  ipecac  witli  evident  success,  many  tliat  came 
yesterday  being  able  to  do  duty  today. 

Friday,  11  A.  M.  Weather  cold  and  falling  snows.  But  few  new  cases 
this  morning.  All  in  Hospital  much  better.  Covet  continues  to  mend 
under  the  former  treatment.  Giving  today  a  Decoct,  of  Guaiac  and  Serpt. 
Virgin,  Typhus  yields  to  the  use  of  Ipecac  and  Opium  and  nourishment. 

Saturday,  11  A.  M.  Men  in  Hospital  doing  well — most  of  them  conva- 
lescent. Continue  the  same  treatment.  There  are  four  new  cases — prin- 
cipally intermittents,  one  pneumonia.  Covet  mending  fast.  Dysentary 
and  Diarrhoea  yields  to  the  use  of  the  Anti-dysenteric  Pill  in  two  or  three 
days.     Saturday  evening,  9  o'clock. 

Remarks.  Ascertained  the  treatment  of  the  Surgeon  (Gilliland)  of  the 
11th  Regt.  in  this  camp  in  diseases  now  prevailing,  which  is  to  give  from 
one  to  three  Emets.  &  as  many  cathartics,  in  order,  he  says,  to  cleanse 
the  prima  viae  and  obviate  the  symptoms  of  a  bilious  Diarrhoea,  and  then 
give  tonics.  Behold  the  gasping,  gasping  Mortals,  how  they  die!  From 
two  to  five  in  a  day!  Twenty-six  in  the  course  of  two  weeks  out  of  four 
hundred.  Can  it  be  correct  practice  when,  in  the  next  Regt.,  out  of  Six 
hundred,  in  an  exactly  similar  situation  and  laboring  under  the  same 
diseases,  not  one  has  died  in  the  same  time  under  a  diametrically  opposite 
practice?  No!  depletion  by  blood-letting  and  antimonial  sudorifics  and 
diaphoretics,  and  an  entire  dissuse  of  all  tonic  medicines,  is  the  proper 
plan  of  cure. 

Suspended  Duty  in  the  Army  from  the  1st  January,  1813,  till  the  15th 
February.     Commenced  Boarding  with  Doct.  Bradford  19th  Feby. 

Peripneumonics  prevailing  in  Camp.  Sergt.  Fulton  taken  violently  with 
all  the  alarming  symptoms.  Was  bled  in  the  first  instance  &  blistered, 
which  relieved  the  pain  in  the  side  partially;  yet  he  was  laboring  under 
dyspnoea,  with  pain  and  stricture  across  his  breast,  dry  skin,  general  lassi- 
tude and  great  wakefulness,  some  times  delirious,  and  very  weak.  Gave 
the  alterant  Pill,  barley  tea,  Antimonials,  Elix.  Paregoric,  and  applied 
another  blister,  which  treatment  very  much  relieved  Symptoms  by  promot- 
ing a  free  expectoration  &  gentle  diaphoresis.  On  the  4th  day  gave  the 
wine  moderately  with  the  mucilage  of  barley,  a  decoction  of  the  Seneka 
and  Serpt.  Virg.,  under  which  treatment  he  continues  to  mend,  tho  very 
moderately  on  account  of  the  negligence  of  his  attendance.  March  1st, 
Recovered. 

Taken  on  the  17th  Feby.,  1813,  L.  D.  F.,  with  the  common,  but  more 
violent  symptoms  of  Peripneumony.  Was  bled  by  Doct.  B d,  but  per- 
haps to  no  great  advantage,  it  seeming  to  increase  the  pains.  I  found 
him  extremely  debilitated,  in  excessive  pain,  great  difficulty  of  breathing, 
stricture  across  the  breast;  tongue  dark,  dry  and  husky;  perspiration 
entirely  suppressed,  with  delirium.  Ordered  warm  bathing,  with  warm 
hemlock  Tinct.  extensively;  humid  baths  to  his  feet.  Gave  the  alterant 
powders  of  opii.  Ipecac,  and  Cal.  every  two  hours,  applied  blisters  to  the 
breast.  Gave  the  Elix.  Paregr.  with  Tart.  Ant.  with  two  drops  01.  Cin.  and 
twelve  of  Ether  Nit.  every  four  hours;   for  nourishment  gave  the  barley 


1812-1820 — Results  of  Magazine  Explosion  53 

tea,  with  wine.  In  36  hours  he  began  to  mend  and  continued  so  to  do 
under  the  use  of  wine,  barley  water,  and  Brunonian  Pill,  this  being  the 
14th  day  of  the  disease;  he  is  free  from  pain,  breathing  free,  and  free 
capillaries;  his  tongue  clear,  and  appetite  fast  amending— indeed  he  is 
convalescent.    Recovered. 

James  McMullen,  having  long  labored  under  Tisis.  Pulm.,  died  on  the 
25th  Feby.  with  an  Hemorragy  from  the  Lungs  in  consequence  of  a  violent 
fit  of  coughing. 

Sundry  cases  of  Peripneumony,  all  yielding  to  the  foregoing  treatment 
of  this  disease. 

The  Sixth  Regt.  March'd  from  Plattsburgh  on  the  19th  of  March,  1813. 
The  weather  cold  first  day — warm  and  pasty;  some  of  the  men  marching 
over  shoe  in  snow  and  water,  the  rest  riding  in  sleighs.  1st  night  lay 
out  in  open  air,  the  next  day  cold  and  raining.  Men  riding  kept  out  till 
12  ock.  P.  M.,  and  then  lie  in  barns  or  in  open  air.  But  few  complaining; 
none  left  behind  in  consequence  of  sickness.  3d  day  clear  and  cold;  4th, 
snowed  in  the  morning,  clear  and  pleasant  in  the  latter  part,  at  night 
men  in  good  quarters;  5th,  pleasant  and  thawing;  6th,  also  pleasant;  7th, 
cold;  8th,  clear,  thawing,  but  chilly  south  wind;  arrived  at  Sacketts  Har- 
bor, leaving  not  a  sick  man  behind;  encampt  at  night  in  open  huts;  9th 
day,  a  few  complaining  of  Intermittant  type;  10th,  one  or  two  cases  of 
Pneumonia  symptoms,  none  confined;  11th,  some  complaining  of  intex'- 
mittants,  not  one  confined  to  bed  or  bunk. 

April  1st,  1813,  Sacketts  Harbor.  Type  of  disease,  Intermittant,  in  many 
cases  complicated  with  Peripneumony.  Symptoms  in  general,  universal 
pain  in  the  bones  and  muscles;  cold,  chilly;  nausea  and  pain  in  the  head 
and  breast,  and  sometimes  accompanied  with  acute  local  pain  in  the  side, 
with  cough  and  other  evident  Pneumonia  symptoms.  Treatment — When 
Pneumonia  symptoms  most  prevail,  use  the  lancet  early  in  the  attack, 
Epispastics  and  Antimonials.  In  the  Intermittant  Type  give  the  Pillules 
Chandler,  a  Tart.  Ant.  and  cal.,  so  as  to  puke  and  purge  smartly,  followed 
with  the  Pill  Brunonian  and  Tart.  Ant.  and  cal.  in  alternate  doses  today. 

From  Sacketts  Harbor  the  Troops  embarked  on  board  the  Fleet  about 
1,500  in  14  vessels — 1  ship,  1  Brig,  and  12  schooners.  Three  companies 
of  our  Regt.  were  on  board  the  Schr.  Julia  (Capt.  Trent  commanding). 
We  were  5  days  from  the  harbor  to  York.  Tho  our  men  were  very  much 
crowded  both  in  the  hold  and  on  deck,  we  had  none  remaining  on  board 
while  we  debarked — all  were  able  to  fight  like  good  fellows.  4  or  5  men 
were  left  sick  on  board  the  other  vessels  of  our  Regt.  Not  any  of  our 
men  were  wounded  in  the  engagement,  but  by  the  explosion  of  the  Maga- 
zines our  Regt.  suffered  more  than  any  other,  being  the  most  advanced 
body  and  within  %  mile  of  explosion.  A  most  shocking  scene  ensued,  the 
stones  falling  thick  as  hail  in  all  directions.  Cut,  bruised,  and  mangled 
the  men  most  shockingly.  About  60  were  killed  dead  on  the  spot.  20  of 
ours,  and  250  wounded,  of  which  109  belonged  to  our  Regt.  The  wounds 
were  of  the  worst  kind — compound  fractures  of  legs,  thighs,  and  arms, 
and  fractures  of  skulls.     On  the  night  of  the  explosion  we  were  all  night 


54  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^Villiam  Beaumont 

engaged  in  amputating  and  dressing  the  worst  of  them,  the  next  day  also, 
and  the  day  after  I  performed  four  amputations  and  3  trepanings.  On  the 
fourth  day  after  we  came  into  the  British  Garrison  we  were  ordered  to 
get  the  sick  and  wounded  on  hoard.  They  were  crowded  into  the  vessels 
Indiscriminately  with  their  respective  companies,  and  remained  in  this 
condition  for  8  days.  Some  of  the  worst  of  the  wounded  were  not  even 
dressed  in  the  meantime,  in  consequence  of  the  Surgeons  not  being  able 
to  attend  the  several  vessels  on  account  of  the  boisterous  wind  and  storm 
which  prevailed  the  whole  time. 

Besides  the  wounded  there  were  numerous  cases  of  Dysentaries  and 
Diarrhoeas  prevailing,  and  seven  cases  of  Typhus  fever  at  least  on  board 
the  Julia,  and  I  presume  more  in  many  of  the  other  vessels. 

May  14th.  Camp  near  Niagara.  Some  cases  of  Typhus  and  a  few  in- 
termittants,  but  the  principal  business  at  present  is  to  dress  wounds  reed, 
at  the  battle  in  York,  or  rather  in  the  explosion  of  the  Magazine — all 
lacerations  and  contusions,  the  compound  fractures  and  amputations  being 
sent  to  the  hospital. 

James  Bartlett,  a  soldier  of  the  6th  Infty.,  received  a  severe  contusion 
at  the  time  of  the  explosion  on  the  Glutii  Muscle  of  the  left  side — had 
nothing  done  to  it  for  near  two  weeks.  At  this  time  he  came  to  me  with 
a  soft  fluctuating  tumor  on  the  point  of  buttock,  surrounded  by  a  hard 
circular  edge;  no  inflammation,  but  had  some  sharp,  throbbing  pains  and 
soreness.  I  directed  emolient  poultices  for  24  hours:  it  appeared  softer, 
but  no  soreness  ensued.  I  then  directed  him  to  continue  the  poultices 
24  hours  longer;  then  on  close  examination  there  are  evident  appearance 
of  much  fluid  matter,  either  of  pus  or  extravasated  blood,  but  from  its 
livid,  dull  and  indurated  appearance  conceived  it  to  be  the  latter,  and  to 
operation.  I  punctured  and  found  nothing  but  black  grumous  blood, 
which  discharged  not  very  freely.  I  then  dii"ected  a  poultice  of  black 
alder  bark  and  flower  to  be  applied  constantly,  as  there  was  nothing  else 
to  be  procured  in  the  situation  we  were  then  in. 

15th.     This  morning  the  tumor  is  more  soft,  but  no  pus  appears  yet. 

16th.  Tumor  continues  to  abate,  pain  less,  and  continues  to  discharge 
grumous  blood  to  the  relief  of  the  pain;  no  pus.  Came  to  mature  supera- 
tion  and  recovered. 

A  singular  case  of  fractured  cranium  by  a  musket  ball  in  the  Battle 
of  Newark  (N  C),  27th  May,  1813.  A  soldier  received  the  Ball  on  the 
upper  and  right  edge  of  the  occipital  bone,  directly  over  the  lateral  sinus. 
The  ball  lodged  under  the  integuments  and  depressed  a  piece  of  the  bone 
about  1  Vs  inches  long  and  %  inch  broad,  running  in  a  direction  from  the 
superior  part  of  the  Os  occipitis  towards  the  right  ear.  It  was  depressed 
the  whole  thickness  of  the  skull.  The  patient  complained  very  little  of 
any  pain  or  uneasiness  for  8  or  10  days.  No  evident  symptoms  of  depres- 
sion appeared,  had  a  good  appetite,  could  walk  about  without  incon- 
venience. Complained  sometimes  of  sickness  of  the  stomach  and  vertigo, 
his  countenance  was  rather  sallow,  but  not  comatose  at  all.  On  a  thor- 
ough examination  of  the  case  and  due  consideration  of  the  probable  event 


1812-1820— Battle  of  Plattshurgh  55 

of  such  a  wound,  the  depressed  part  being  entirely  dead,  Doct.  Daniel 
(Hosp.  Surgn.  Genl.),  Doct  LovelUi  and  myself  thought  it  advisable  to 
trepan  without  delay.  Judging  from  the  nature  of  the  case  that  the  in- 
jured bone  must  exfoliate  sooner  or  later  and  kill  the  patient  if  not  re- 
moved, the  operation  was  performed  by  Doct.  Lovell  in  a  most  adroit  and 
masterly  manner,  and,  perforating  the  sound  edge  of  the  bone  about  the 
depressed  portion,  the  trephine  at  one  side  seem'd  quickly  thro,  but  the 
other  requir'd  considerable  longer  and  cautious  labor  before  it  appeared 
through.  No  hemorragy  ensued  till  the  circular  was  raised  by  the 
levator,  when  the  blood  gushed  from  the  lateral  sinus  in  a  stream  as 
large  as  my  little  finger,  threatening  instant  death,  but  Dr.  Lovell,  by 
compressing  the  lacerated  sinus  with  his  finger  till  the  fractured  pieces 
could  be  taken  out,  and  then  compressing  it  with  soft  lint,  perfectly  se- 
cur'd  it  from  bleeding.  Put  on  the  dressings,  and  the  patient  got  up  and 
walked  about  as  before  apparently. 

How  long  Beaumont  was  ill  at  Fort  George  and  away  from  active 
duty,  as  noted  in  the  final  sentence  of  his  descriptive  diary,  is  not 
revealed,  but  he  was  more  or  less  active  throughout  the  campaign. 
In  August,  1814,  he  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Plattsburgh  under 
General  JMacomb,^-  who,  with  7,500  men  and  a  fleet  of  fourteen 
vessels,  defeated  General  George  Prevost  mth  14,000  men  and  a 
flotilla  of  sixteen  vessels.  The  American  fleet  was  victorious  in 
Plattsburgh  Bay,  and  helped  turn  the  tide  of  battle  in  favor  of 
the  land  forces. 

The  part  played  by  the  surgeons  in  this  engagement  was  well 
expressed  by  Plospital  Surgeon  James  Mann,  medical  director  at 
Plattsburgh,  in  his  report  to  Surgeon  James  Tilton  :^^ 

In  events  of  high  importance  it  is  seldom  the  Medical  Staff  are  noticed. 
This  is  discouraging  to  the  ambitious  young  surgeon  of  the  army.  It  may 
be  alleged  the  surgeons,  being  noncombatants,  are  out  of  danger.  This, 
however,  is  not  always  the  case.  During  the  investment  of  Plattsburgh 
by  the  enemy  the  surgeons  were  constantly  passing  from  fort  to  fort  or 
to  block-houses  to  dress  the  wounded,  exposed  to  a  cross  fire  of  round 
and  grape  shot,  while  the  greater  part  of  the  army  was  covered  by  fortifi- 
cations. The  cool  bravery  of  the  surgeons  was,  in  private  conversation, 
noticed  by  the  commander-in-chief.  Had  half  as  much  been  reported  to 
the  War  Department  respecting  them,  they  would  have  felt  themselves 


'"■  Dr.  Joseph  Lovell,  whose  name  we  find  mentioned  here  for  the  first  time, 
remained  a  lifelong  friend  of  Dr.  Beaumont.  He  was  made  the  first  surgeon- 
general  of  the  United  States  army  in  1818,  and  in  this  offlcial  position  played  an 
important  role  in  Beaumont's  epoch-making  work  on  St.  Martin.  Many  refer- 
ences will  be  made  to  him  in  the  course  of  this  work. 

^-Alexander  Macomb,  while  adjutant-general  of  the  army,  took  service  in  the 
field  and  was  made  major-general  after  winning  this  victory. 

^^"The  Medical  Department  of  the  United  States  Army  from  1775  to  1873," 
by  Harvey  E.  Brown,  assistant  surgeon  of  the  United  States  army. 


56  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^ViUianl  Becuonont 

amply  compensated.  It'  any  officer  had  hardships  attached  to  his  office,  it 
was  the  surgeon,  who  executed  his  office  with  fidelity  and  assiduity.  I 
feel  myself  bound  to  report,  with  much  respect,  the  conduct  of  all  the 
medical  gentlemen  attached  to  this  army,  who  have  at  all  times  during 
the  campaign  performed  their  duty,  and  who.  for  their  particular  services 
during  and  after  the  investment  of  Plattsburgh  by  the  enemy,  merit  the 
applause  of  their  country.  To  discriminate  would  be  an  act  of  injustice. 
Doctors  Lawson  and  Mason,  surgeons  of  regiments,  and  Warmsley,  Beau- 
mont, and  Hugo,  surgeon's  mates,  have  all  deserved  well  of  their  gov- 
ernment. 

A  few  months  later,  December.  181-1,  the  treaty  of  Ghent  was 
eoncliided.  pntting  an  end  to  activities,  and  was  ratified  February. 
1815.  It  is  probable  that  Dr.  Beaumont  contemplated  leaving  this 
section  on  the  resumption  of  peace.  At  any  rate,  there  were  exe- 
cuted about  this  time  by  the  Champlain  Chapter  of  the  iMasonie 
order,  to  which  he  belonged,  testimonials  similar  to  those  taken 
with  him  from  St.  Albans.  These  testimonials  state  that  "he  stands 
high  in  the  estimation  and  esteem  of  all  those  of  his  accpiaintance 
whose  good  opinion  is  valuable,  and  is  considered  as  a  young  man 
of  an  amiable  heart,  exemplary  morals  and  conduct,  and  skillful 
and  assiduous  in  the  duties  of  his  profession.*'  etc.;  that  he  is 
'■possessed  of  a  benevolent  heart,  honest  and  honorable  in  all  his 
intentions,  faithful  to  his  friends,  and  just  to  his  enemies:  his 
reputation  is  unsullied,  and  his  professional  character  stands  high 
in  the  opinion  of  those  with  whom  he  is  acquainted."  Among  the 
signatures  on  these  certificates  are  recognized  such  names  as  Reuben 
AValworth."  Levi  Piatt,  and  others  who  left  their  marks  in  the 
history  of  the  country.  If  he  did  really  contemplate  leaving 
Plattsburgh.  he  did  not  carry  out  his  intention,  but  remained  there 
and  in  the  ai-my.  In  ]\Iarch.  1815.  President  ^vladison  determined 
to  reduce  the  army  to  10.000  men.  with  a  proportionate  number  of 
officers,  and  requested  through  Secretary  of  AVar  A.  J.  Dallas  a 
report  as  to  the  respective  merits  of  the  various  officers.  The 
secretary,  in  a  confidential  conununication  to  the  colonel  command- 
ing the  Twenty-ninth  regiment  of  United  States  infantry,  wrote. 
' '  However  painful  it  may  be  to  discriminate  between  men  who  have 
served  their  country  at  a  very  interesting  crisis,  yet  justice  to  them 


"  Reuben  Hyde  Walworth,  who  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1S09  and  settled  in 
Plattsburg-h.  became  master  in  chancery  in  ISll.  and  soon  rose  to  great  emi- 
nence. He  was  a  Democratic  member  of  Congress,  representing  New  York  from 
1821  to  1823.  circuit  judge  from  1823  to  1828.  and  chancellor  of  New  York  from 
1828  to  1848.  Mr.  Justice  Story  pronounced  him  the  "gi-eatest  equity  jurist 
living." 


1812-1820— An  Affair  of  Honor  57 

as  well  as  to  the  public  requires  that  those  who  have  most  merit 
should  be  retained."  On  this  basis  Beaumont  Avas  retained  in  ]\Iay^ 
1815,  in  the  Sixth  Infantry,  while  hundreds  higher  in  rank  and 
older  in  service  were  dropped. 

There  is  fragmentary,  though  unmistakable,  evidence  of  an  inter- 
esting episode  Avhich  occurred  about  this  period  of  his  career.  It 
is  one  of  the  many  that  shows  Beaumont's  courage  and  his 
determination  to  stand  up  for  what  he  considered  right  at  any  cost. 
On  this  occasion  he  Avas  willing  to  risk  his  life  on  account  of  a 
question  of  honor,  which  arose  between  him  and  one  Captain 
Richards,  of  the  artillery  corps,  and,  while  this  turned  out  to  be 
but  a  war  of  words.  Dr.  Beaumont  was  prepared  for  action.  We 
shall  not  endeavor  to  give  a  complete  synopsis  of  this  circular, 
but  present  it  here  in  its  original  form  (pages  58,  59),  and  leave 
the  deciphering  and  unraveling  for  the  reader  at  his  leisure. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  he  sent  a  challenge  to  a  duel,  for  some  cause 
not  mentioned,  to  Captain  Richards  bj^  his  friend  Captain  Shell. 
Richards  would  not  accept  the  note,  but  in  the  presence  of  others 
received  a  verbal  communication  from  Shell,  in  response  to  which 
he  made  concessions  to  Dr.  Beaumont  and  expressed  a  desire  to 
bury  the  hatchet.  In  the  face  of  this  fact  he,  however,  posts  broad- 
cast in  a  public  circular  a  mass  of  falsehoods  and  fabrications, 
which  are  finally  republished  and  appear  over  his  name  in  the  first 
five  paragraphs  of  this  poster.  This  cowardly  deed  prompted  Dr. 
Beaumont  on  the  morning  of  June  11,  1815,  to  publish  him  to  the 
world  in  a  similar  manner  as  "a  contemptible  liar,  a  base  villain, 
and  a  poltroon."  All  of  this  evidence,  with  the  signed  statements 
of  a  number  of  other  officers,  appear  in  this  poster  as  the  final  Avord 
in  the  controversy,  and  thirty-seven  of  his  felloAv  officers^^  from 
various  regiments  affixed  their  names  to  the  folloAving  statement: 

We,  the  undersigned,  officers  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  have  no  reason  to 
doubt  from  personal  knowledge  and  authentic  information  that  Captain 
G.  H.  Richards,  of  the  corps  of  U.  S.  Artillery,  has,  from  want  of  honor 
and  integrity,  so  far  disgraced  himself  as  to  be  guilty  of  conduct  unbe- 
coming an  officer  and  a  gentleman  in  attempting,  by  low,  base,  and  cow- 
ard.ly  means,  to  evade  meeting  Doct.  Beaumont,  Surgeon's  Mate  of  the 
6th  reg.  U.  S.  Infantry,  after  having  traduced  and  attempted  to  injure  his 


15  Among-  these  may  be  seen  (page  59)  the  name  of  Thomas  Lawson.  surgeon 
of  the  Sixth  Infantry,  who,  after  the  death  of  Dr.  Joseph  Lovell,  was  made 
surg-eon-g-eneral  of  the  United  States,  and  in  this  capacity  subjected  his  friend 
and  companion.  Dr.  Beaumont,  as  will  be  shown  later  in  this  narrative,  to  much 
inconvenience,  discomfiture,  and  humiliation  in  his  old  age. 


58  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 


To  the  Public. 

"  PL^ITTSBCRGir,  JttMiUk,-lg 
IS  conMipieoee  of  the  dcelaralions  of  Capt  V.  SbeDt  htia  oflhe  6«li  Infanlry.  it  brrotnrs  arccMat 
(Itnt  1  r«fa»e<Ilo  nolleo  (hoeommiinieiUloMof  bUFrioml  Doctor  Bcaunianl  forilip  followinf;  ren»ni  ;  | 
Hoctor Beaumont  had  untight  liis  rciIrcM  forpppsonttl  injitrirs  from  a  Court  Mtirtial  &  thcrrb^  prrttiiiW, 
from  an  hononmblo  npp<-<il  ;  3nil.  That  the  Do«tor  hnil  iTccircd  a  posiihe  and  givas  intuit  tix  mop- 
nbieh  he  had  swallowed  at  that  time  and  mast  now  digrvt. 

That  he  snSeiMl  this  inmlt  to  be  offi-red  bim  with  impunity  is  not  denied,  hot  he  pninSn  he  c 
IwiltHl  to  notice  it.     Ami  vh;  I     Bceame,  fortoolh  !  a  ptirale  rorrespondrnro  which  he  held  with  in;r  pri 
rncmirf.  tuperied  and  iin^iilmled  my  ebatnteter.     I  wan  not  then,  it  would  ,<rFin.  rniiilr<l  to  the  notice  of  a  | 
tlpmao,  but  »a>  privile^d  la  insult  one  willi  impunity  !     What  hat  >ince4n<e<>trd  tnc  a  ith  the  hi|;lier  pri>if 
of  being  amenakie  a(  tlie   Bar  of  Hsnoar  i     I  wai  then  the  Commandin;;  OlScrr  nf  my  carpi  at  this  |NMf 
ghai'ed  liberally  of  ;lic  popuUir  olimation-~Thc  rante  is  uimply  this  :  t  hare  piiblickly  arnved  nydetrrroina. 
not  to  notice  any.comnioQi<mtion  from  htm.     lie  knew,  thervfore*  th»t  be  tnl^il  eonsnit  his  safrlr,  whil<* 
odranerd  his  prrtcnti-'no.     But  why  has  i««t  his  Friend  supported  his  i  lainis,  anil  why  has  not  his  i'rienci  ly 
Jy  pmpased  bts  demand  orsalisfeelioa  ? — Bcoatiso  he  kaew  the  eonsequ^ntes  woald  l>o  dangerous  t»  V^xi'^ 
Jt  should  l>e  recolleclcil  that  at  the  time  Capt-  Shell  asscrtcil  my  refusaUj^ire  «aii'r.:ai>j»-i»-''-~'^ —    •'  • 
oor  has  mailc  to  this  momest,  aa]';d«mB<i^*^  fv  iuiuM.Sfvr-l'rinnr. ' 

TTlicn  Caiit.  Sheil  called  on  mo  in  the  Brst  instance,  I  dintioelly^-oM  him  that  hU  FricM  nns  n/>  Grj^' 

■Xtan,  but  thai   1  bad  no  objee tion  to  himttlf.     A  nian  ofproixr  spirit  on  sue h  an  veeasion,  »v(Hjhl  lt»vo>tr 
what  steps  topnrsce.     Instead  of  Irnp^rio;^  tnnepoliatioo  ao<l  proIraclin;»  the  (jispnto  from  day  to  day,,li«  «.. 
ntK  have  sufrerrd  for  a  moment,  tbo  character  of  a  ninn,  \vht)5e  cause  ho  had  espoused,  to  b<*  isDjiearhi'd, 
BOW  waictho  subject  of  the  Doctor,  a  dealer  ofdro;;",  vhn  phj^rksflie  |)Bl>lie  niih  his  noitran^s,  and  who,' 
nnf^t   I  knew,  is  as  harmless  in  his  profession,  as  he  is  ent  ».f  *«. — I  am  at  isstm  with  Opt.  Shell  only,^  I 
with  him   1  ha»e  entcreil  the  I,isl».     The  following  note  I  sent  hint  yestrhlay  nod  wUieh  !>nd  lieen  fnr 
<wa  days  io  the  bands  of  a  certain  Crnttcman  with  n  strong  ixquest  fiom  ate  lu  hxte  il  drllfcccd  iuMucilia 

"  SIB, — Yonr  Friend  Doctor  Beanmonl.  as  his  eomlnct  has  drinonstraled,  ami  ts  I  base  iwai-mbly  oi:iinl 
^  licbis  Ho^fnt/emaJi,  I  will  oeilher  apoloRiT;-.  nor  expLin,  nor  n»bt  liim. — But  to  voir.  Sir.  I  lni.>  rwobji 
linn,  and  base  always  ciprcssed  roy  rrailinoss  to  meet  you  in  any  manner,  time,  or  pUtce,     And.   Sir,  ay 
have  otrercd  me  insnils  and  iivjurirs  whiili  do  n;ii  nilniii  oflhe  passihiliir  of  apology  tirciplanuit'in,  1  ho; 
^•gorically  demand  that  salisliiclion  which  fhoiawsjfJJoiuuuLciuUlitlJcnU-JSJt'*'-"    'rh's  nula  Caplw 
Jiaiiiegleclcd  to  answer,  and  bis  silence  tlaiojis  h^'  "-^'xtjsojciutl. 

After  this  cspoHiiian  of  facts,  I.chrrrfully  iv  ~'jv^ 

mtions  of  myeoemius  ace  stronp;  jt  numeruiia,  t 

i  feel  In  my  own  inlepiity  awl  courage,  of  wbie;!'  ..... «.< a  lu  i— 

M  me  for  proof.    My  p.»...«.|j.^ra  ''^v"  ti>i«hU.^v.  -o^ra.cd  nii4  ursRntt  .i  In  tUeIr  eelicmes  of  tepil  te, 

liiiiii  iiiij    II   III  iirt'f''l'-ii'  •■'  r ^  hosSility.     An  bononnhlo  sM|«!(tal  by  a  Military  TrHkunal 

-  Arlirered  inc  from  a  host  of  charges  of  a  foul  and  malignant  nature  ;  aad  the  rerdiet  pronounced  by  thi 
srBlimcnl  will  rrijecm  my  charaeler  from  its  present  asprnioiis.     I  am  not   to  be  iniimidalcd  by  fhrrat 
4lisconnlenHnced  by  opposition.     Thoogh  single  and  unsupported,  1  sbnil  march  in  i lie  path  of  my  duly  i 
Jurbcd,  and.  in  tlie  indrpendrneo  of  my  feelings,  look  down  with  piiy  on  my  tusailanls.  wliu  sap.  wbcro  Ihry 
IKt  lutaull.  and  jnino  the  walls  tliey  euutd  not  scale. 

C.  H.  IUCII4nD3.«         ; 


077  seeing  the  abore  pnbljcaiiaifef  lofnmons  falsrhsods  and  misrriM-rsralafiens.  hy  Capt.  Richards,  of  (ti4^ 
«erps  of  Artillery,  for  llm  puqiase  of  jusiityiiig  himself  in  the  basolaod  most  cooteuiplible  cooduiit,  (after  bat-; 
log  been  postol  in  the  following  manner,   via  :  J 

"  I  hereby  proclaim  to  the  world,  that  Captain  G.  H.  Ricbjards,  of  the 
corps  of  Artillery,  is  a  contemptible  Uar^a  base  villain,  and  a  poltroon. 

•'  PlttUibuTsh,  7  o'tiatkt  A.  M.  June  ilUt,  ISli.  , 

(9ig«eJ)  "  ir.M.  nKAOilOVT,       'A 

.      J      *A  •    •"         -^ ''"         SnrgtumMalCethTnj:*^ 

'  t  am  e*mp<Ale4  b}' «  KmenrjsMlieefttA^irtotheranse  public,  the  naked  faets  and  tircum'.ianees  to  vhicii  hi 
aliixles  ;  nlihqngh  I  frel  I  am  tirsreiMll|fg  in  noticing  any  thing  which  ran  emanate  from  so 
itnworlby  a  pel-son — whoso  disgrace  is  wiil^pl  a  parallel:  yet  to  rsposr  his  tnie  rhanicirr  fairly  to  the 
World,  !>  a  duty  I  owe  lomyfrirfldsdto  the  public.  Were  it  not  for  ihe  subtlety  of  bis  dis|uisiiion,  Iiheuldnot  have 
irscd  anetV«rt  to  ciposo.him  ;  bnt  be  possesses  the  ignoble  awl  dangerous  lulent  of  inventing  fal-^elMMMls.  giving 
ibrm  the  semblaneo  of  (ruth,  and  pvlming  ihcm  upon  (he  publie  as  well  as  inditiduuls,  and  he  dors  nn(  liesiinlu 
to  enforce  bis  impressions  by  tbo  most  solemn  aKeilaiioos  ami  appeals  to  Honor. — 'nicreforo  ibe  following  au- 
ihentieated  statements  are  published,  in  order  that  whoever  vrads  (hem  fnay  ju^ge  lor  himself,  as  I  «hali 
doisa  to  lake  thh  least  notieo  of  any  eotuiauaieaiion  bo  may  brrcaiXer  produce.  II.  SIIKLL, 

Capt,  3d  Itrg.  InC 
PltiKsbiU'eh,  lilh  JtiDC,  MIS. 

I  CERTIFY  on  baaor,  that  somelimo  sioee  I  VM  prctrnt  at  a  «onTer«a(h>a  sshidi  loift  plare  belw^j 
Captains  Shell  and  Richards,  rrsjteriing  an  tJlhir  of  honor  between  Capt.  Richards  ami  Ooct.  R^aumenl,  tli^ 
jn  the  course  of  Ibe  conversation  Capt.  Uiehards  aceeptcil  the  eommunicotion  of  Ur  lleaiiinoDl  verbally  fbrou' 
4'apt.  Shell,  and  made  concessions  fur  using,  in  the  presence  of  Captains  Kelchuni  ami  Dailey,  langunge  <Icr<^ 
>roi'V  to  itiechnnctrref  Duct.  Beaanraaliaad  remaikedtbal  bo  wiudesintas  of  burying  the  bateliet  with 
tuJi  Doct.  Beaumoal.—  R.  K,  UK.  RliSST  ' 


PMbteist,  Jrar  12,  i*U. 


1.1.  KMf.  h  Car'-  ^  If^nt. 


...mm 


Tlic  first  part  of  a  lanailar  issu.  d  li\  K.aiiiiioul  as  tlu'  last  woid  ni  a  con- 
troversy with  one  Captain  G.  H.  Richards,  of  thi'  corps  of  artillery,  in  June, 
1815.    (Size  of  original,  7%  by  1278  inches.) 


1812-1820— An  Affair  of  Honor  59 


I CERTIVV  on  lienor,  llial  1  hurt  ieen  btStSMc!/  attpkiatai  »iA  Dorlof  'WiniaiH'Beinp.ont,  aboat 
f«ojcars!asi  pasi,  tunllliai  duriiig(hesai<tlin9leom1<)cmt  tiiio.  anilcio  s(ill  eortsHler  litm  l«  be  a  Oenlkman 
ami  a  roaa  of  liooor,  »nd  f  do  fiiMhirMMnrt  most  posilifelj  <len;r,  I  tut  I  erer  t«ld  Cai>taia  Hif  baril«,  of  ihe  corT» 
ofAHitlcry,  itiatlherjid  Dottor  B<-auni<int  was"  no  GcoUemaai"  that  when  Caplain  RiehanU  matte  that  asser- 
tion. lie  iiiicred  a  mo»i  inriiniocs  fWschuoJ.  WM.  HAZARD, 
flaUeiarsb,  Uib  June,  1815.                                                                          -  Cnjl  Bih  Infcntnj. 

AT  rtx-  ■frajiieBt  orCapt.  SlieB  wd  Doefor  BcaumoBt,  I  harednvn  ep.  on  honnr,  (he  rollowiaj  sfalearat 
«f ^-Is.  Tflalhe  10  a  dispute  tlint  (oek  plaee  {K(«wn  captain  O.  H.  Riehanh,  and  Um^.  Beanmoiil.  viz. 

<»n1he  Sllior  Till  ofjiini',  init.  caplain  C  II.  Siiliatils  i-alird  on  me  (6  !«  Iii»  frifnH,  in  an  sHair  of  honor, 
vhhb  lie  «aiil  was  likely  to  lake  plate  Iwiween  caplain  Sliell  an  I  liini«-lf  :  I  refiijcd  at  iirat  to  linve  anj  tiling 
lodoailli  it.  ullrclginj;  Ihal  raplaiii  Sli<ll  was  my  Triend,  therefore  I  could  not  IhiBk  ufaeiing against  him,  &e. 

■Ae Cspfain  ili<lia«)«  iiiaiie  use  of  many  ari;(imenls  (o  induce  ma  to  Iw  his  friend,  a»d  at  Ia>l  I  conysnleU,  on 

'Toadiiioii.ttiai  rapi.  J{.  would  siaic  i«  mo  sUtbe  imrlienlar:,  and  allon  me  to  make  up  the  mailer,  (i{  I  fonnd 

jr|>raFiiinl>V)<ionoi-al>Iy  to  boih  paifien.     Capt.  II.  lUcn  simcil,  iliat  paptnin  S.  barf  iieen  Iho  beanrofa  nolo 

from  Duel.  IJuiunom.  lo  him — Ilial  he  refusrj  lo  aeeepl  of  an;  eommnniiaiion  from  I>r.  li:  onaerouol  of  his 

Dol  hrinj;  a  Kcnileoian— eapl.  S.  look  hack  Iho  note,  an"!  rrpliml,  (hat  if  enpl.  R.  refused  Dr.  Ji.  he  must  accept 

i      .oThini  :  t'nptain  Hi  said  lie  h.-id  iio-ofajee(inna  lo  eaplniii  S.-hut  (hot  he  (R.)  had  docunicnis,  in  bis  possession, 

\     ilhal  woiild  eoniinteraplaiii  S.  thai  Dr.  B»  was  no  genlleman — ho  also  said,  thai  eaptains  Hazard  and  Do  Uus- 

i>    -w;!-,  wouM  liollrtay.  ihni  I)r.  B.  wasjgrtAg!»=lte^0!_!4^Pl»in  glieli  said  be  Wi-ild  sra  (iie  sinUMn»»,-tt»<J 

'  ffornnittls  blH.ieidludtTno.  and  if  ih!^*#re.ti)n»iBeinjjra  hiin,  he  would  )iavo  liclhing  more  to  do  \»!Ui  Dr.  B. 

«r  wiib  l!ie  iiil^iir,  *ic. CajTt.  U.  rallnt  on  me  (lie  nest  evening,  (o  Kay,  (but  lapfai  i  S.  had  uuiled  on   bim  b- 

piin.  V  iih    1  noir.  fieiii  Ur.  R.  uhieb  be  jcfused  lo  creepi  of  at  first,  but  Ibal  captain  P.  threatemd  (o  jmhlish 

bioi  ifhedW  r.oi  lake  Iho  note,  that  he  took  il  on  condiiioBs,  that   ho  was  lo  ntirrn  i(  the  nest  moroioj;,  11  hi> 

thought  prft|'ir.  afiir  cnn^idrriDg  the  alTair  »c!I,  Capt.  K.  wmlcd  me  lo  take  a  note  to  Capl.   S,  iinmedirrtrly. 

..    Jnit  I  rtjuted.  allidgitiK  «s  my  reasons  for  so  doini;  thai  as  be  had  acpepleil  of  Dr.  B's  rommnniealion,  he  «a» 

^.   iwaml  to  settle  thai  bniiarss  liisl.  after  nhiih.  I  was  ttlUin;;  to  lake  the  note  toCapt.  S.  ifncwssair. 

.  Captain  R.  ?aid  hp  could  not  nict-l  i}e."»iimoni,  or  re-eeivu  any  eiimntunicatioa  from  liim.     I  said  he  liadtkl- 

'     ■ready  rt-ei*iwd  this  note,  wliieti  be  ought  r.ol  to  have  done,  unless  be  was  willin;;  to   mcd  httnas  a  geniieotan. 

>€aptai3  H.  rcplird  ihit;  Cnpl.  De  Rusvry  » mild  say.  ilrnt  he  {'.l.')  hatl  (old  Captain  SlielUtliiit  ho  would  reccim 

no  ronii«-iiiie»(i";i  iVom  I5r.  fj.  and  desiird  nie  (o  call  on  Capt.  Ue  Russey.  and  ask  him  the  ijueslion.     1  agrccil 

(tdo  so.  iinr  nrs;li'i'cil.ii  until  Siiturdav  the  lOdi  lost,  when  I  eidlid  oa  C'aplaiu  Dc  Rusvey  (iiicotepany  viiiU 

Capl.  Shell) — !  askiil  I'aiii.  l)r  iiiivsey  tthclhei  Capt.  U.  i)id  or  did  no!  agrcc.lo  rceetie  a  commnnicalion  fioni 

©r.  15.  titroagh  I'ripl.  SliilU    lie  «aid  rapt.  i).  did  not  o^ree  to  receive  a  Miitten  communieaiiui!  from  Dr.  U. 

fint  (bat  he  agrceil  !o  rcieUe  a  vcrlial  one.  and  es]T:'»srtl  a  «i»h  4a  he  on  (erms  of  frlemisjjip,  and  (in  his  o«a 

■    '  woi-ds)  (0  bury  Ihfi  hatclie£»itJiIJjiJJj_  JUllicii  weal  iu  eompany  with  eapls.   Shell  and  Be  Rtissiy,   lo  wait  on 

*upt.  Hazard  iJjgjJiPtHnm'Brbrihcr  he  did  oi^  did  not  lell  e«pt.  R.lhatDr.  B.  was  oa  genllcman".  or  that  hi» 

.  coBduel  Imjl-aiirhccn  thAt  ofapratleuran,  or  words  to  that  eBccf— Capt.  5!.  said  io.ioswcr,  that  be  nererdid, 

V  <lfiw/^-1»riniUwclly  lell-eapf.  It.  any  sucli  Ujin;; ;  liul  nii  the  oonlrary,  be  bad  bren^m  terms  of  iniimary  «illi 

-*-^      taf  (so  years  or  wore,  and  thai  he  was  a  gentleman  in  CTcry  respect.  &c.  &e*     - 

Vj  e«inimri;ia"  alt  <li--s-^^:iuiraili9t»»-'T-sJaii;^fa«t>4^«us  gell  Kwo.rp,  (Ik^i-c  wns  ?omethios  wrocg-rJE 
.reli  jv  WTMeuTSTiiiiiay  (o  prestnl  nij  fuiupiiqierils  <p  Capl.Bichards.  asd  lell  littrtflat  1  eould  no  loiigca* 
;t:a9his  JVientl'ia  this  aifair,  nnr  coijld  1  notice  him,  or  eorrespood  witUIuus  asan  ofBeep  and  gentleman,  un- 
Jl  fcc  had  cleared  up  this  bBtincsa,  aiisfatlorlly  to  the  world.  jiSOW.  Jl'HOWELL. 

^.■.-  •  Cat)!.  Beg.  Light  Artillery. 

;¥  '     PiatlsJHii^h,  t2fb  Joni>,  18iS. 

;■          ^E.  (he  nndrr^ipiM,  oir!errse(r.(heV.  8.  Army,  bare  no  reason  ti>d«u1il.  from  pefwmaT  knowlcilgc,  nndl 
•  '■  -(HJlieniio  inroniiaiion,  thai  C3|il;iin<i.  U.  Kiehanls.e'f  the  corps  oil".  8.  Artillery,  has,  from  a  want  of  honor, 
I     «Bd  iiTtcgrity.  so  Rti"  disgtond  biiii'sf  If  as  to  bo  guilty  of  rondmi  unbecoming  an  ofiieer  and  a  gentleman,  in  at- 
tempting, by  tow.  base,  ami  euwardly  rarnns.  (o  pvailu  mee(ia.~  Ooct.  Ilraumout,  Surgpoa's  .Male  of  (he  6lii  reg. 
V.  S.  Infantry,  tifler  h^-ving  Iraducinl.  and  allemplrd  to  injnre  his  eharacicr,  tbcrrby  compelling  his  (Riebards*) 
friend  W  abandon  hini,  ar.d  siilTeiins  liiiiiself  (o  be  publlshei!  as  3  lAar.  Fitlaitt,  and  pollroea  ;  and   Ve  farther 
belieTo  Unetor  !5fauniiia(,<o  htne  been  artuated  by  nootber  priaciplca  than  those  which  lu:nari  andjaalke 
tbosld  dirlale  lo  etcry  gentleman,  in  a  sliuliar  tiitualloa. 
i*lailsb»rgh,  June  IJih,  1.SI5. 
1  li.  Vail  AiuvFcip,  A.  S.  Brocks,  Shj.  Art. 

Jel.  Brig.  Major.  S.  Mackav,  Ailjt.  Lt.  .Hre. 

Nelson  PrcelaMl,    Lt.  L  .1.  K.  M.  Giks,     tt.  Z.  Jl. 

j\.  \V.  Thormop,     fopt.L,J.^--  .•%.  R.'Thomson,    Ca pi.  2d  Inf. 

•  ---ih.  I.aivson,     Surxou 6th  Inf.  S,  S.  AriBslron;;,  U.  h.  Jirly. 

.   -.  ,-j^-^iLCtKTn>ii^X/.  *>/.     <Li.-* 'f-    --        #,-?i««m*»s  i.'l.  Cd/y.!  .24-&     ' 

J'..  I.yo",  («J  JJ. /^,1  Thee.  J.  Bairils,  do. 

31.  »l.  Dos,  Capl.  ISlti  Ttif.  O  Sealer,  Bmgcnn,  2a'/i  tttf. 

^Tohn  (iaies.  hknt.  lA,  Ari.  'ilias.  Kcfchiim,  Capt.  h.  »J. 

RoIm-M  JlTlellan.  I.ifu;.  0  JaJ.  Xiecrge  P.  Peters,  Cap*.  Arl.  AstA.  G. 

'■  Jan.  Craysoo,  Mji.  6  Inf.  K.  A.  Allen^  Qipt.  .Art. 

J.  Mathtsutj-,  J.  U'slworlh.  .^Snjop  S3iJ  in/. 

^oj.  Ircrrt  7th  Inf.  Jno-  t^liiz.  hiai'.  id  Inf. 

J.  FmW,  IJ.carhsAn.  Jno.  C.  Rocheitpr,  CcjUain  23tfi /fl/. 

N.G.Dana.  Lt.  corp,  Art.  ^'- A^"  i'""''''"' Z"'"?'''^.^"',  v^', 

J   S   Pirrce  Utnit  V/  "'■  ^-  Speneer.  Cap.'atn  281ft  Injantrg. 


D.  Turner,        .         /,?.  corps  Art. 
Aeneas  Mackay,  JLtn/lhc  Ordnance- 


J.v.wh  Coorpendcr,  I.ieul.  iOlhlnf. 


Aeneas  iMacfcay,  jLt  nj  tin:  Urinsnce-  .John  Chapman,  Ca'pU  c  laf. 

D.  UoUea,  CojX.  44(ft  InJ.  JC.  I,.  Kocknood,  31«J  /»/. 

;/       TTie  nolc  referred  (o  hi  Capf.  G.  H.  Ricbawts;  pi.TilIpadan  concr.-ning  me,  on  (he  llih  iost.  tras  eTani7e»- 
TiiwIt  plarcU  on  a  lable-*^«y  <iuarlers,  at  a  la!e  Itour  i<i  U-.e  pigb!.  ia  my  ahsenec,  (and  it  is  presumed  was  left . 
1/  by  hitasdfc  u  b«  eouM  not  gel  a  fricwl  ts  ba  the  bearer)  anj  ^as  ssl  diKovcred  by  me  oalil  after  taj  bad  Uca 
t  |M<t«d  Bt  ^SUB^  Tuuu  ud  Mtf  SOBS— wSk*  {daJBlj-  ■•tcoiuits  rar  mv  uicneo  oa  the  soljjeet. 


The  second  part  of  the  circular  shown  on  opposite  page,  containing  a  list  of 
thirty-seven  officers  who  uphold  Beaumont  and  condemn  Richards. 


60  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WilUain  Beaidiioiit 

character,  thereby  compelling  his  (Richard's)  friend  to  abandon  him,  and 
suffering  himself  to  be  published  as  a  "Liar,  Villain,  and  Poltroon;"  and 
we  further  believe  Doctor  Beaumont  to  have  been  actuated  by  no  other 
principles  than  those  which  honor  and  justice  should  dictate  to  every 
gentleman  in  a  similar  situation. 

This  was  Surgeon  Beaumout's  last  victory  in  the  AVar  of  1812- 
1815,  for  a  few  months  later  he  tendered  his  resignation  to  the 
commanding  officer,  with  a  view  to  entering  private  practice  in  the 
town  of  Plattsburgh,  where  he  had  already  hosts  of  friends  and  a 
well-earned  professional  reputation.  It  has  been  stated  that  he 
resigned  because  of  insufficient  advancement  in  the  service,  but  to 
one  who  has  made  a  study  of  his  life  it  would  seem  more  probable 
that  his  position  in  the  army  in  these  times  of  peace  in  a  small  and 
healthful  garrison  ofit'ei-f  d  him  too  little  mental  stimulus  to  continue 
in  the  service.^'* 

Soon  ofter  resigning  from  the  army.  Dr.  Beaumont  entered  into 
partnership  with  Dr.  (J.  Senter,  another  a^'my  surgeon,^"  and  an- 
nounced to  the  public  that  they  had  "commenced  business  in  the 
line  of  their  profession  (Physic  and  Surgery)."  They  also  opened 
a  store  containing  a  "general  assortment  of  drugs,  medicines, 
groceries,  dye  woods,  etc..  which  they  calculate  to  sell  on  libera! 
terms  for  cash  or  approved  credit. ''^^  A  few  months  later  they 
dissolved  partnership  on  account  of  Dr.  Senter  having  to  go 
south,  and  the  firm  became  Beaumont  &  AYlieelock.  Dr.  Beau- 
mont's notion  of  an  up-keep  in  the  grocery  line  is  rather  amusing. 
The  Plattsburgh  lupiihlieeoi  of  September  6,  1816.  contained  the 
following  announcement : 

Beaumont  &  Wheelock  have  just  received  and  offer  for  sale  at  the  low- 
est prices  a  large  and  well-selected  assortment  of  Groceries,  consisting  of 
Madeira,  Port,  London  Particular,  and  Sherry  Wines,  Cognac  and 
French  Brandy,  Jamacia,  St.  Croix  and  New  England  Rum,  Pierpont  Gin, 
Molasses,  Tea,  Lump  and  Loaf  Sugar,  Rice,  Coffee,  Salt,  Pepper,  Allspice, 
Ginger,  Plug  and  Paper  Tobacco,  Pipes,  Codfish,  Shad,  Mackerel,  Choco- 
late, Spanish  Segars,  Window  Glass,  Snuff,  Starch,  Powder,  Shot.  Almonds, 


1"  Another  potent  reason  for  Beaumont's  resignation  may  be  found  in  a  letter 
dated  Malone,  February  14.  1S14,  in  which  Surgeon  Mann,  writing  to  Dr.  Tilton 
in  the  name  of  the  medical  officers  of  his  department,  says:  "This  i.s  a  fact, 
and  a  serious  one  too,  that  the  surgeons  and  mates  of  regiments,  under  existing 
encouragements,  have  no  inducements  to  continue  long  in  service.  Curiosity 
alone  will  induce  them  to  sacrifice  the  term  of  one  year  in  service.  This  being 
gratified,  its  exciting  powers  lose  their  effects.  The  pay  and  emoluments  of 
surgeons  and  mates  of  regiments  do  not  give  them  a  support,  especially  on  the 
frontiers  of  Canada,  where  the  articles  of  life  are  procured  at  the  most  extrava- 
gant prices."     (Brown's  "Medical  Department  of  the  United   States  Army.") 

1"  See  list  of  officers  attached  to  poster  in  the  affair  of  Captain  Richards. 

^^Plattsburgh  Republican,  December  1.5,  1815. 


1812-1820 — Private  Practice  and  General  Store 


61 


and  m  \ 
besides 

there- 
ed  aad 

ISy   HI  g 

la  few 
jeessity 
>ro!  So- 
io  give 
iott»  at> 
et  (hat 
>pec(tve 
present 
t^ioii  a- 
legates 


nil  tec* 


of  Ihis 
eh  lun- 
iHue  at 
j.  It  is 
m^con- 

the  Ut 
2onclu- 

nt  in  a 
lleaiion 


u  m  aimirt  uair  s»i  beur,  tlje  distaiiee  two 
msJes  and  a  feallV 


-id  ^ 

Drs.  BeaumoiA  &  Senter 

M.  KFORSI  flieir  friencfs  am!  (lie  public 
t1«Et  ihcy  have  commenecil  bHsiofss  jn 
the  line  ©f  their  ppofesssjon,  (Physie  awl 
Sure^epy)  and  have  cstahlished  their  of- 
fice in  the  upper  part  of  (he  corner  Stoke 
Ifkfely  occupied  hj  B.  Girman,iii  the  Ti!- 
laj:^  of  Plattsburgb,  inhere  one  op  lolk 
ttf  ibe<n  may  generally  be  Connd. 

THEY  HAVE   ALSO  OPEKSO    4b 


Containing  a  General  Assortmeiit  of 

DRUGS;  MEDICINS. 


O 


BYE  WOODS.  &c/  ^ 

Of  the  Srsf  quality  and  ehoieest  seli^'tisn 
—which  they  calculate  to  sell  on  lllicrui 
ItTins  ibp  cash  or  approved  credit, 

\VM.  BEAUMONT. 

G.  se:\teh, 

Plaffsburgh,  Bee- 15, 1SI5. . 
N.  B.  Medicines,  kv.  \Yill   be  put  up 
Vilih  accuracy  and  care. 


te 
thirds^ 
chains 
north 
_t  hence 
and  oi 
tbfee  1 
of  bej, 
eleven 
Locati 
in  the 
the  al 
piece  e 
highwi 
fouth  I 
bound* 
and  t\ 
teen  i 
thirds  I 
to  the 
acre — 

ber  fix 
'  ftate  ai 
in  the 
a  piece 
[  twenty 
north  ; 
thiri'.e 
ning,  ( 
(wen(y 
all  ihe 
I  fliall  1 
Palmtr 
iJictv/e 
o'clock 


An  advertisement  in  the  Plattsburgli  Repuhlican,  December  lo,  1815,  announc- 
ing Beaumont's  entry  into  private  practice  and  tlie  opening  of  a  general  stoie, 
with  a  partnership  arrangement. 


62 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiam  Beaumont 


liicni  ki!- 
swirn- 
I  'n-Oii-'U 

Cte  lort, 
H'clil  >nce. 

mi'i  had 

ti'iijj  one 
10)  i)b.'s. 
xuloaion, 
J  Si    Uive 

I'.Vi  VftVC 

rtiicr  re* 

irjran  L. 

'  MUc-h. 

.  isii 

nu  you, 
pl>  .laca- 
M-v;roes 
303  wo- 
cl  strov- 
you  'he 
pr  st.nt 

r^ii.  I 
ive  evc-- 
k  n  and 
rat  this 


he  I3fh 
ar  coin 


Lord  Kxmouih  was  to  It-ave  Enj»!anfl  the 
last  of  Julv,  to  t^ke  tne  bjibmiiiis  hy  tht 
b  Ttil.  Not  onljT;  ihe  to*n  and  turtr.-ss  of 
Al>iiers  are  to  be  ruz-d  to  the  ^mouiuI,  '  ut 
the  j^overnm.  nt  is  to  be  ^  rnolis»t)td.  We 
sh.il'  s  »  or        ir  ill  ;♦'  on    i»  \  C'A. 

Beaumont  &  Wheelock 

}1  W^K  jist  recttv'fi,  and  oHTet-  for  sjL-  ul 
the  lo-.v-st  pricts,  a  I  .ro^e  and  Wcij  seiccicd 
assort m   fit  of 

GROCEIifES, 

Coiisistiiio:  of  M  deiij,  fort,  London  PtDJcu- 
I  r,  and  S'>rr  y  WINKS.  Cos^n  c  and  Ficn.  u 
BRVNUY— Jam.ica,  St.  CroJXv  and  New. 
Hii;|jnd  KUM— .Pieip^xu  (JIN — Mol.asts, 
Tei,  Lump  aid  Loif-Su,rar,  Rice,  ("of!  e, 
SaU.  Pepp.-r,  A  hpice,  Gmser,  Plu  ?  in  J  P.. 
{)  r  r^b'Cco  Pip,s,  Codfislj,  Shad,  M  :kcrel. 
C'oroht-,  Sp  msii  S:j-ai5,  WhvIow  Gl.ss, 
Snuff,  Stare,  Powder   S,,oi,  Alinondb,  Sec. 

Ar.'-o, 
In  addition  to  tlieir  fartner  siock,  a  lirgc  as- 
sort in'  nt  of 

Drugs  &  Medicines, 
Dye  Woodsy 

Sept.  «,  IS16. 


ATaS 
in  tl< 

York 
the  y 

hU'Kl 

TRt 

fluiid  ' 
\\ 

tor  of  '/ 

in  tile  s 
i)y  his 

'itr,  S 
Pijlt.  W 

le  1  est 
just  and 
md  deb 
l»itd  bet: 
it  'ppffa 
SI  fti.  i>.r 
tt«e  pre 
m-ide  ai 
iioncr  h 
!  o^,;te  i 

lone('«— 
SuitOjIfH 

state  0 
m;<y  hai 
or  so  m 
-old  ii&  1 

l>pj?  i-h 
\'>  Platts 
^  (»vt  inb 


An  adveitisement  in  the  Plattsburgh  Rcptihlican,   September  6,   1S16,   revealing 
a  change  of  partnership  and  announcing  the  sale  of  a  unique  line  of  "groceries." 


etc.     AIeo  In  Addition  to  their  former  stocli;  a  large  assortment  of  Drugs 
and  Medicines,  Dye  Woods,  etc.,  etc. 

He  kept  store  for  about  a  year,  and  in  December,  1816,^"  sold  out 


19  Preparatory  to  selling  out,  he  inserted  the  following  announcement  in  the 
Plattsburgh  RepuhJican  on  November  16,  1816:  Notice — Prompt  Payment  Re- 
quired.— The  subscribers,  feeling  the  necessity  of  fulfilling  honorable  engage- 
ments in  confidential  dealings  between  man  and  man,  and  more  especially  in 
debts  contracted  on  short  credit  for  the  accommodation  of  the  people,  are  now 
under  the  disagreeable  necessity  of  demanding  immediate  payment  from  their 
customers  to  whom  they  have  given  the  indulgence  of  a  short  credit  on  cash 
terms,  expecting  payment  without  calling.  One  week  only  will  be  given  for  the 
payment  of  demands,  after  which  they  will  be  left  in  the  hands  of  an  attorney  for 
legal  collection.     Beaumont  &  Wheelock. 


1812-1820— Member  of  The  Forum  63 

to  Springer  &  Woodward,  after  which  he  confined  himself  entirely 
to  the  practice  of  his  profession. 

Plattsburgh  township  was  at  this  time  by  far  the  most  populous 
in  the  county  of  Clinton.-'^  The  inhabitants  were  principally  farm- 
ers of  domestic  and  peaceful  habits,  w^hose  household  manufactures 
supplied  the  common  and  much  of  the  fine  clothing.  The  village 
nestled  beautifully  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saranac  river,  consisted  of 
about  seventy  houses  and  stores,  a  Presbyterian  church,  several 
mills,  a  court  house,  and  the  county  prison.  The  barracks  at  which 
Beaumont  had  been  stationed  were  five  miles  above  the  village  on 
the  Saranac  river.  Clinton  county  was  sparsely  settled,  the  roads 
necessarily  rough  and  the  rides  long.  The  Doctor  was  therefore 
compelled  to  be  more  or  less  constantly  in  the  saddle,  carrying  with 
him  his  saddle-bag,  filled  with  drugs  and  such  instruments  as  were 
necessary  for  minor  operations,  blood-letting,  and  the  like.  His 
popularity  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  he  was  soon  elected  a  member 
and  treasurer  of  "The  Forum,"  doubtless  a  literary  organization,-^ 
whose  membership  was  composed  of  the  elite  of  Plattsburgh.  In 
view  of  some  misunderstanding,  however,  he  tendered  his  resigna- 
tion as  member  and  treasurer  on  November  1,  1817,  in  a  very 
characteristic  manner,  presenting'  his  statement  "of  the  funds  of 
the  Forum, ' '  and  exhibiting  therein  a  keen  sense  of  humor,  together 
with  a  bit  of  sarcasm,  in  the  summing  up  of  his  treasurer's  report, 
as  follows : 

Dr.  Cr. 

$15.13  $15.13 

Leaving 000000.00 

which  is  duly  recommended  to  the  serious  consideration  of  the  honorable 
Town. 

The  Treasurer  takes  this  opportunity  of  tendering  the  resignation  of 
his  appointmient  under  the  impression  that  his  successor  will  be  a  person 
of  adequate  honesty  and  responsibility  for  the  safety  of  the  funds  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  the  honorable  society.  And  that  he  may  not  be, 
like  his  predecessor  in  that  office,  indirectly  impeached  for  a  breach  of 
trust  by  any  unprecedented  order  of  the  Society  without  his  knowledge 
or  the  least  shadow  of  a  reason  assigned  for  such  an  egregious  imposi- 
tion upon  every  honest  and  manly  feeling,  is  the  prayer  of 

WiLLiAii  Beaumont. 


20  111  1810  had  a  population  of  3.112 

^A  careful  search  of  the  newspaper  files  and  other  old  sources  of  information 
failed  to  reveal  the  real  nature  of  "The  Forum."  There  was,  however,  organized 
in  Plattsburgh  in  December.  1816,  a  "debating  society,"  "not  intended  to  be  an 
opposition  to  any  society  of  like  nature,  but  to  endeavor  to  obtain  a  union  of 
all,"  etc.     This  may  have  been  "The  Forum." 


64  Life  (Did  Lifters  of  Dr.  WiUiaiit  Bcauiuonf 

He  evidently  estalilished  as  lucrative  a  practice  as  tlie  community 
afforded  at  that  time,  and  executed,  as  had  been  his  custom  in  the 
army,  careful  records  of  his  observations  in  private  practice.  I 
find  among;  the  papers,  for  instance,  a  "r^Iedical  and  Physical 
Journal,  commenced  November  1.  1818.  in  the  sixth  year  of  my 
medical  practice."  in  which  are  recorded  the  histories  of  "^r.  B.  J. 
Mooers,"  "Abel  Stone's  AVife.'^  "Old  Mrs.  Battiste,"  "Miss  :\I. 
Sela.  age  8  years."  "]Mr.  L.  Ransom's  child,  age  1  year,"  "Mrs. 
AVheeler.  wife  of  ^Iv.  Zebh.  AVheeler."  and  many  others. 

In  the  case  of  his  friend  and  colleague.  Dr.  B.  J.  Mooers  (page 
72),  he  describes  "a  severe  attack  of  fever,  with  acute  pain  in  the 
head,  back,  and  loins,  irregular  chills  and  acute  exacerbations  of 
fever,  great  superficial  heat,  dry  skin,  high  arterial  action,  and 
great  thirst."  On  finding  his  patient  in  this  condition,  he  deemed 
it  wise  to  bleed  him,  but  says,  "Finding  him  rather  averse  to  V. 
S.  [venesection],  and  feeling  a  little  courteous,  I  did  not^nrge  the 
operation,  but  deferred  it  six  hours  (to  his  prejudice,  no  doubt)." 
On  returning  in  the  evening,  and  finding  that  "20  grains  of 
calomel  and  cold  vinegar  to  his  head"  had  given  no  relief,  he  in- 
sisted on  his  favorite  remedy,  and  "at  6  o'clock  on  the  same 
evening  took  16  ounces  of  blood."' 

The  case  of  ^Mrs.  AVheeler  is  of  sufficient  interest  to  be  reproduced 
here  in  part,  dealing,  as  it  does,  with  a  case  of  suppo.sed  hydro- 
phobia and  a  unique  method  of  treatment. 

Mrs.  Wheeler,  wife  of  Mr.  Zebh.  Wheeler,  on  the  8th  of  August,  1819, 
was  bitten  by  a  cat  supposed  to  be  rabid,  at  least  had  every  appearance 
of  being  so,  but  was  a  strange  cat  and  shot  immediately  after  inflicting 
the  bite.  I  Vv'as  called  immediately  a  distance  of  4  miles,  and  arrived  at 
the  house  in  an  hour  or  an  hour  and  a  half  after  she  had  been  bitten. 
The  wound  being  superficial  upon  the  integuments  of  the  right  foot  over 
the  metatarsal  bone,  and  the  teeth  not  having  perforated  entirely  the 
cutis  vera,  I  extirpated  the  whole  of  the  wounded  part,  leaving  no  vestige 
of  laceration  or  even  extravasation.  The  wound  bled  freely  from  a 
cutaneous  artery,  and  was  then  dressed  with  leaves  of  the  Alysma 
plantago--  and  ordered  to  be  kept  constantly  wet  with  salt,  vinegar  and 


—  His  knowledge  of  alysma  plantago  as  a  specific  in  hydrophobia  was  obtained 
from  Billinge's  Liverpool  Advertiser.  February  23.  181S.  the  clipping  of  which  he 
had  preserved  very  carefully.  It  read  :\s  follows:  "Effectual  Cure  for  Hydro- 
phobia.— ^Of  the  long  catalogue  of  these  distempers  with  which  it  has  pleased 
the  Supreme  Being  to  chasten  or  afflict  humanity,  the  most  violent,  the  most 
awful  and  deplorable  is  hydrophobi.n.  This  frightful  malady,  which  bereaves  of 
reason,  distorts  the  frame,  and  humiliates  the  species  by  a  change  from  human 
to  brutal  nature:  whose  paroxysms,  increasing  with  their  succession,  in  their 
tortures  render  the  miserable  sufferer  too  terrifying  fcr  sight — almost  too  hide- 
ous for  sympathy:  the  malady  which  hitherto  no  skill  could  control,  no  force 
restrain,  no  medicine  relieve,   at   length  yields  to  a   simple   member  of  the  vege- 


1812-1820 — Case  of  Hydrophobia  65 

water.  A  dose  of  Calomel  10  grs.  was  administered  at  evening  and 
prompted  by  another  with  Rhei  in  the  morning.  .  .  .  The  sore  in  3  or 
4  days  became  inflamed,  much  swollen,  and  quite  painful,  with  a  general 
febrile  habit  of  the  system;  the  tongue  coated,  with  pain  in  the  head; 
nausea  and  foul  stomach,  indicating  an  emetic,  which  on  about  the  5th 
day  was  administered,  operating  well  and  relieving  the  patient  of  all 
febrile  symptoms.  The  charcoal  poultice  with  yeast  was  applied  to  the 
foot  and  sore  during  its  swollen  state  at  night,  sometimes  alternated  with 
carrots,  and  dressed  with  calomel  and  carbon  on  the  surface  of  the  sore 
in  the  day  time.  .  .  .  The  wound  had  cicatrized  nearly  over  by  the 
4th  week,  and  she  felt  herself  quite  safe.  .  .  .  On  or  about  the  10th  of 
Sept.  she  experienced  some  singular  sensations  and  called  on  me  to  de- 
scribe them.  She  said  she  had  within  a  day  or  two  felt  sharp,  twinging 
pains  in  the  sore  and  about  her  foot,  running  up  the  limb  of  that  side; 
sharp,  piercing  pains  through  her  head  from  one  temple  to  the  other, 
shooting  into  the  back  part  of  her  head  and  down  her  neck  and  shoulder; 
a  sense  of  suffocation  in  her  throat,  a  swelling  of  the  muscles  of  the  neck. 
On  the  10th,  when  she  came  to  me,  there  was  a  wild,  glary  appearance  in 
her  eyeo  and  confusion  of  countenance,  although  she  was  perfectly  com- 
posed and  rationally  sensible  of  her  situation.  The  sore  on  her  foot  had 
ceased  to  discharge  and  was  of  a  dark,  livid  color.  Being  somewhat 
alarmed  myself  at  these  appearances,  I  did  not  omit  a  moment  in  urging 
her  to  the  use  of  the  most  sovereign  means  to  divert  the  approaching 
symptoms  of  Hydrophobia.  I  directed  her  to  return  home  immediately; 
gave  her  a  cathc.  of  Calomel,  with  directions  to  take  it  at  night;  to  apply 
the  charcoal  or  carrot  poultice,  and  to  keep  the  surface  of  the  sore  cov- 
ered with  calomel.  Having  discovered  a  few  days  before  the  Scutillaria 
lateriflora, 23  i  gave  her  some,  with  directions  to  make  a  strong  decoction 
and  drink  a  gill  morning  and  evening,  and  to  make  use  of  a  mild  decoction 
of  it  for  common  drink  through  the  day,  and  to  keep  the  sore  washed 
with  the  same. 


table  world — a  quick,  but  effectual,  antidote,  the  complete  and  general  discovery 
of  which  Providence,  in  its  wisdom,  has  reserved  for  the  present  time."  Then 
follows  the  story  of  a  Russian  peasant  who  was  the  sole  depository  of  a  secret 
remedy  for  this  terrible  distemper.  While  traveling  to  a  distant  village  he  came 
upon  a  hamlet  which  was  in  a  great  state  of  commotion  on  account  of  a  case 
of  hydrophobia.  Being  unprepared  for  such  an  emergency,  he  felt  compelled  to 
sacrifice  self-interest  for  humanity's  sake,  and  directed  a  search  to  be  made  for 
the  alysma  plantago.  He  described  it  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  village,  and  they 
forthwith  discovered  it  in  the  immediate  neighborhood.  The  distempered  man 
was  cured,  and  the  famous  remedy  thus  became  known  to  the  world.  The 
article  contains  a  careful  description  of  the  plant  and  an  Illustration  of  it.  It 
proves  to  be  nothing  more  than  the  common  water  plantain. 

-2  His  ability  to  search  out  the  various  plants  from  which  to  make  his  drugs 
naturally  presupposes  some  knowledge  of  botany.  In  this  connection  it  may  be 
stated  that  in  a  previous  biography  (Dr.  J.  R.  Bailey.  Physician  and  Surgeon, 
December,  1900,  page  574)  he  is  said  to  have  spent  part  of  the  time  from  1815 
to  1S19  in  Maryland  and  made  valuable  contributions  to  the  science  of  botany 
and  geology.  A  careful  search,  however,  of  the  records  contained  in  the  libra- 
ries of  Johns  Hopkins  University  and  the  Missouri  Botanical  Gardens  by  authori- 
ties on  these  subjects  has  failed  to  reveal  evidence  of  any  such  contributions. 
An  effort  was  made  to  locate  manuscripts  of  Dr.  Bailey  which  might  give  the 
source  of  his  information  on  this  point,  and  through  the  kindness  of  Mrs.  Bailey 
I  was  given  access  to  his  library  and  papers  at  Mackinac,  but  nothing  bearing 
on  the  subject  was  found. 


66  Life  and  Letters  of  Br.  William  Beaumont 

Then  follow  daily  notations  on  the  case,  of  which  the  following 
are  examples : 

Sept.  13th.  Feels  more  comfortable  than  she  has  for  several  days;  the 
symptoms  recurred  again  at  night,  and  continued  from  about  12  till  6  or  7 
ok  in  the  morning,  and  were  abated  by  drinking  freely  of  the  Scutillaria. 
as  reported  by  the  people.  Appeared  mild  and  easy  in  the  afternoon  when 
I  saw  her.     .     .     . 

Sept.  15th.  Symptoms  recurred  again  last  night  at  usual  hour,  vio- 
lent as  ever;  feels  more  unwell  today  than  ever,  owing  perhaps  to  the 
alterant  effect  of  the  calomel  producing  ptyalism.  The  cal.  and  Rhei  not 
having  moved  the  bowels,  gave  1  oz.  oil  at  5  P.  M.  and  directed  an  enema 
at  7.     .     .     . 

Sept.  18th.  Did  not  see  her  this  day,  her  husband  reporting  no  effect 
from  the  infusion  of  day  before.  I  gave  him  Gum  Guaiac  and  Magnesia 
aa,  with  directions  to  give  her  a  teaspoonful  of  the  powder  every  three 
hours  until  it  should  operate  a  physic,  and  to  continue  the  use  of  the 
tea.     .     .     . 

Sept.  2.5th.  Saw  her  this  day.  She  continues  convalescent;  sore  com- 
pletely cicatrized,  symptoms  all  subsided.  Continued  the  tea,  and  directed 
the  Guaiac  and  Magnesia  to  be  repeated  once  or  twice  a  week  pro  re  nata. 

Oct.  20th.  Perfectly  recovered  and  enjoys  as  good  health  and  Spirit.^ 
as  usual. 

Beaumont's  name  was  presented  for  membership  in  the  Clinton 
County  Medical  Society  the  latter  part  of  1818.  and  the  minutes 
record  the  folloAving : 

January  19,  1819,  the  society  met  at  the  house  of  Edward  Hunter, -■* 
innholder,  and  adjourned  to  the  house  of  Simon  Newcomb.^s  Drs.  Wil- 
liam Beaumont  and  R.  P.  Allen  presented  their  credentials,  and  were  ad- 
mitted members  of  the  society. 

This  society  has  been  a  very  active  one  from  the  time  of  its 
organization  np  to  the  present  day.  It  came  into  existence  on 
October  6,  1807,  when  "eight  physicians  and  surgeons  of  Clinton 
county  met  at  the  house  of  Israel  Green,  innholder  in  Plattsburgh. 
to  organize  a  medical  society."  Thereafter  the  meetings  were  held 
at  regular  intervals  at  the  various  village  taverns,  and  showed 
evidence  of  much  interest  in  medicine  in  its  broadest  sense.  I  find 
in  the  minutes  such  notations  as  the  following:-*' 


=*  The  house  of  Edward  Hunter  was  situated  on  the  corner  of  Broad  and 
South  Catherine  streets,  a  portion  of  which  still  stands. 

-5  The  tavern  of  Simon  Newcomb  stood  on  what  Is  now  the  corner  of  Cornelia 
and  Miller  streets,  and  was  occupied  by  the  British  soldiers  at  the  time  of  the 
siege  of  Plattsburgh. 

^o  "Three  Centuries  in  Champlain  Valley."  by  Mrs.  George  Fuller  Tuttle; 
"History  of  Clinton  and  Franklin  Counties,  New  York,  1880,"  J.  W.  Lewis  &  Co.. 
publishers. 


1812-1820 — Clinton  County  Medical  Society 


67 


January  19,  1809,  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Clinton  County  INIedical 
Society  was  held  at  the  house  of  Israel  G-reen.27  Dr.  Waterhouse,  of  Ma- 
lone,  read  a  surgical  dissertation.  Thanks  and  $18.80  for  expenses  were 
voted  to  Dr.  Horatio  Powell,  of  Malone,  for  attendance  at  the  meeting  of 
the  State  Society.  ...  It  takes  a  gentleman  to  keep  a  country  inn, 
and  Friend  Green  is  the  very  man  for  it. 

January  15,  1811,  met  at  the  house  of  Edward  Hunter,  innholder  in 
Plattsburgh,  when  it  was  decided  to  send  a  delegate  to  the  State  Society, 
and  five  men  were  fined  one  dollar  each  for  non-attendance. 

August  16,  1813,  a  soldier  was  hung,  and  his  body  delivered  to  the 
President  of  the  Clinton  County  Medical  Society  for  the  use  of  said  So- 
ciety.2s 


«. 

cL 

:d  to 
MjU 

He  I 
e  of 
Fbis 
%V>t 
tage 


M ARKIEO,  tt  Matone,  on  die  lOtb  Mf. 
bjr  the  Rt:v.  AsUbei  Parmdcct  Mr.  bTtPm** 
Coos,  Jr.  (o  Miss  JxwKr  Wtsa- 


The  person  who  look  a  smali^hss  SAN  O 
BOX  from  the  office  of  Doct*  Qeaunonf,  is 
rt(|iu;stcd  to  rwtarn  it«  and  sav-:?  their  repiit«» 
tkio,  as  tt  is  well  ascertiuncd  y>1io  tht  offend 
eri»  Feb.  to>  1819. 

For  Sale  or  to  Let, 

THE  Farm  on  which  the  Subscriber  livc«, 
ilKt}**  town  of  f  era  ;  on  the  Lake  Shore.  P*- 


An  advertisement  in  the  Plattsburgh  Republican.  February  20.  1S19,  requesting 
the  return  of  a  sand  box. 


Among  his  contemporaries  in  the  practice  of  medicine  at  Platts- 
burgh was  his  cousin,  Samuel  Beaumont,  to  whom  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  refer  often  in  later  chapters.  He  is  said  to  have  read 
medicine  under  the  direction  of  his  cousin  AYilliam  between  1815 


-"  The  ancient  inn  of  Israel  Green  stood  on  the  corner  of  Bridge  and  Green 
streets. 

^  In  this  connection  the  following  extracts  from  "reminiscences"  appearing  in 
the  columns  of  the  Plattsburgh  Republican  are  of  interest:  "I  remember,"  vrrites 
Mr.  John  V.  Bailey,  "when  my  brother  William  kept  a  store  on  the  corner  of 
Margaret  and  Bridge  streets,  in  the  old  wooden  building  which  stood  where  Mr. 
Cady  keeps  store  now.  There  was  a  cellar  kitchen  there,  with  an  entrance  from 
the  east,  with  a  large  fireplace.  Dr.  Beaumont  had  an  office  there,  and  after 
some  murderer  was  executed  here  the  body  was  turned  over  to  him.  and  I  re- 
member being  there  and  seeing  him  arranging  it  for  the  skeleton,  and  seeing 
it  hung  up  by  this  open  fireplace  in  the  kitchen  to  dry  out  like  a  piece  of  mutton. 
I  never  knew  what  became  of  this  skeleton."  Of  this  skeleton,  however,  we 
have  another 'glimpse  a  few  years  later.  It  went  with  Dr.  Beaumont  to  the  home 
of  his  future  father-in-law,  the  famous  Quaker  innkeeper,  as  we  learn  from 
Dr.  Beaumont's  niece  in  her  description  of  the  "Ancient  House."  where  the 
skeleton  found  sanctuary.  She  says:  "Just  across  the  narrow  corridor  was  a 
staircase  to  an  unfinished  attic,  w-ith  a  closed  door.  On  the  lower  platform  of 
the  stairs,  one  step  raised,  stood  two  skeletons — one  in  armor  of  dark-red  arte- 
ries and  bright-scarlet  veins,  the  other  a  stark  curio  of  naked  bones.  These 
were  subjects  turned  over  to  Dr.  Beaumont  by  Judge  Ambrose  Spencer  as 
anatomical  studies.  Whatever  they  may  have  been  in  life.  I  can  not  teU. 
Scarecrows  they  were  to  children  and  servants  for  a  full  decade." 


68  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^Villia'^n  Beaumont 

and  1819,  received  his  license  to  practice  from  the  Clinton  County 
Society,-^  and  became  a  member  in  1820,  continuing  in  practice 
here  for  many  years  thereafter.  He  was  a  favorite  cousin  of  the 
doctor's,  and  proved  of  the  greatest  assistance  to  him  in  after 
years. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  at  this  point  tlmt  some  of  the  meetings 
of  the  medical  society  were  attended  by  a  bit  of  sentiment  on  the 
part  of  one  its  members.  ' '  Friend  Israel  Green,  innholder  in  Platts- 
burgh, "  was  destined  to  become  the  future  father-in-law  of  William 
Beaumont,  and  already  an  everlasting  attachment  had  sprung  up 
between  the  young  surgeon  and  Green's  daughter,  Deborah  Piatt. 
The  Greens  were  Quakers  of  much  culture  and  refinement,  and 
descendants  of  General  Nathanial  Green  of  revolutionary  fame. 
Israel's  tavern  played  an  important  role  in  these  days,  and  was  the 
center  of  political,  social,  and  professional  life  in  the  village.  While 
there  were  a  number  of  hostelries  in  Plattsburgh — ]\IcCreedy's, 
Newcomb's,  Hunter's,  and  others — the  greatest  honor  seemed  at- 
tached to  being  "one  of  that  group  of  men  who  were  wont  to  gather 
in  good  fellowship  at  the  inn  of  Israel  Green. ' '  It  was  here  that  balls 
were  given  by  the  smart  set,  lodge  meetings  were  held  in  the  attic, 
and  congenial  souls  gathered  in  the  evening  about  the  large  wooden 
tables  to  discuss  the  many  topics  of  local  and  national  interest  that 
were  confronting  them.  It  was  at  this  tavern  that  President 
INIonroe  was  welcomed  by  the  eloquent  Reuben  H.  Walworth  after 
his  path  into  the  hostelry  had  been  strewn  with  flowers  by  the 
"young  ladies  from  j\Iiss  Cook's  and  ]\Iiss  Forrenee's  schools,"  and 
here  it  was  that  young  Beaumont  carried  on  his  successful  court- 
ship. Israel  and  Sarah  Green  had  two  daughters,  Anna  and 
Deborah.  The  former  became  the  wife  of  Colonel  Melanchton 
Smith, ^"^  a  man  of  great  power  and  prominence  in  northern  New 
York  in  his  day,  while  the  latter,  then  a  young  widow,  became  the 
object  of  the  Doctor's  affections.  She  was  evidently  a  young 
woman  of  much  culture  and  great  strength  of  character,  generous. 
genial,  industrious,  sympathetic,  and  endowed  Avith  physical  beauty. 
During  the  war  through  which  they  had  just  lived  she  was  not 
inactive,  but  "moved  like  a  ministering  angel  in  devoted  care  and 


-» Biography  of  Samuel  Beaumont.  (Plattsburgh  Sentinel  Annual,  1S93.) 
*' Colonel  Melanchton  Smith  was  a  man  of  affairs  in  this  community.  He 
was  commander  of  Fort  Moreau  in  the  defense  of  Plattsburgh  in  the  War  of 
1812.  and  the  first  editor  of  the  Plattsburgh  Republican  in  ISll.  He  died  at  38 
years  of  age.  and  was  buried  with  great  military  honors.  lea\ing  a  young  widow 
and  a  daughter,  Elizabeth,  one  year  old. 


1812-1820 — Discontinues  Private  Practice 


69 


faithful  nursing,  or  seated  by  the  bedside  of  those  doomed  to  die. 
Her  strong  fortitude  and  gentle  sympathy  gave  encouragement  and 
hope  to  many  a  stricken  household  throughout  her  native  village; 
a  Avoman  in  every  way  fitted  for  the  future  in  store  for  her,  full  of 
sacrifice  and  full  of  success.""^ 

Though  happy  in  the  midst  of  such  professional  and  social  ties, 
Beaumont  was  discontented,  as  is  so  often  true  of  those  who  have 
once  felt  the  thrill  of  war.  The  call  of  the  army  seemed  ever  to  be 
rino'ing  in  his  ears.     There  had  recently  been  a  complete  reorgan- 


Jnioti 

y   al- 


state, 
iVasb- 


^  Doctor  WILLIAM  BEAUMONT 
informs  ♦he  pnbiic  that  he  ha.*  declined 
the  practice  of  physic  for  the  prcsentt 
for  the  purpose  of  settling  hts  accounts* 
and  rtcommends  to  his  friends  the 
employment  of  Doctor  SAMUEL 
BEAUMONT^  who  has  taken  an  of- 
fice at  Mr.  Israel  Green's,  where  all 
profcssioQal  Cail3  >Vitl  be  dulf  atietide<l 
to. 

ALL  pttsbns  havini?  tJnsettled  ac* 
counts  with  Wm.  Beaumont*  or  witl» 
the  late  firm  of  Beaumont  {5*  Senter» 
or  with  the  estate  of  Samuel  Beaumoot 
decetiScd,  are  requested  la  call,  Invrtie* 
diately,  at  the  aboVe  place,  and  adjusQ 
the  sarrfe.— December  1,  IS19. 

WM.  BEAUMOOT. 


An  advertisement  in  tlie  Plattsburgh  Reiniblican,  December  1,  1S19.  announc- 
ing the  discontinuance  of  practice. 


izationTbf  the  medical  corps  of  the  army,  and  his  friend  and  military 
comrade,  Dr.  Joseph  Lovell,  had  been  chosen  surgeon-general. 
Though  Lovell  was  not  yet  thirty  years  of  age,  he  had  shown,  in  his 
able  reports  as  hospital  surgeon  and  medical  director  of  the  north- 
ern division,  mature  thought  and  a  keen  understanding  of  the  med- 
ical needs  of  the  army.  He  proceeded  at  once  to  surround  himself 
with  a  corps  of  capable  a.ssistants,  and  showed  his  high  regard  for 
Beaumont's  ability  by  offering  him  a  position  in  the  surgeon-gen- 
eral's office.     The  first  of  Beaumont's  letters'-  on  file  in  the  depart- 


2^  Clipping  from  a  Green  Bay  paper  (no  date)  of  an  article  by  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Smith  Martin. 

3- Victor  C.  Vaughan.  (Physician  and  Surgeon,  December,  1903.  page  544.)  A 
careful  search  of  the  files  of  the  surgeon-general's  office  made  by  me  in  May, 
1911,  failed  to  disclose  the  original  letter. 


70 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUia)n  Beaumont 


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1812-1820— Reenters  the  Army  71 

ment,  dated  at  Plattsburgh,  December  18,  1818,  expressed  thanks 
for  the  offer  of  a  $1,000  clerkship,  which  on  first  thought  he  ac- 
cepted, but  afterward  declined.  Clerical  work  was  not  compatible 
with  his  ideas  of  activity.  The  new  order  of  things,  however,  ren- 
dered active  service  in  the  medical  corps  of  the  army  much  more 
attractive  than  it  had  been  during  the  years  of  his  previous  service. 
He  had  already  been  commissioned  surgeon  of  the  Fifteenth  Regi- 
ment of  cavalry  of  the  New  York  militia  by  Governor  DeWitt  Clin- 
ton on  April  6,  1819.  Beaumont  had  always  remained  a  stanch  anti- 
Federalist,  and  was  naturally  a  great  admirer  of  Governor  Clinton. 
In  an  issue  of  the  Plattsburgh  Bepuhlican  of  about  this  period  his 
name  appears  in  a  list  of  300  indorsing  Clinton's  administration  and 
urging  his  reelection.  With  the  establishment  of  the  new  grades 
in  the  regular  army,  he  made  application  for  readmission  to  the 
service.  He  evidently  received  prompt  assurance  of  favorable 
action  on  his  application,  for  on  December  1,  1819,  through  the 
columns  of  the  Plattsburgh  Eepublican  he  ' '  informs  the  public  that 
he  has  declined  the  practice  of  physic  for  the  present  for  the  pur- 
pose of  settling  his  accounts,  and  recommends  to  his  friends  the 
employment  of  Dr.  Samuel  Beaumont,  who  has  taken  an  office  at 
Mr.  Israel  Green's,  where  all  professional  calls  will  be  duly  at- 
tended to. ' ' 

He  was  commissioned  by  President  Monroe  on  March  18,  1820, 
post  surgeon  of  the  army,  to  take  rank,  however,  from  December  4, 
1819.  He  was  immediately  ordered  to  Fort  Mackinac,  on  the  north- 
Avestern  frontier,  where  he  was  to  report,  once  more  to  General 
Macomb,  under  whom  he  had  served  valiantly  at  the  battle  of  Platts- 
burgh. He  bade  adieu  to  the  strong  ties  of  love  and  friendship 
which  he  had  formed  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  re- 
turned for  a  short  visit  to  his  relatives  in  their  country  home  in 
Connecticut. 


72 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WilUam  Beaumont 


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1812-1820 — Medical  and  Fliyskal  Journal 


73 


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Ho 


CHAPTER  V. 

1820-1822. 

Tlie  details  of  his  journey  to  the  northwest  have  been  narrated 
in  his  characteristic  style  in  a  "Traveling  Journal  from  Platts- 
burgh  to  Mackinac,  1820,"  which  has  come  down  to  us  in  an  excel- 
lent state  of  preservation : 

May  6th,  3  A.  M.  Left  Plattsburgh  in  the  steam  Boat  Congress,  and  the 
people  enjoying  the  refreshing  influence  of  "Nature's  Sweet  restorer, 
balmy  sleep"  (excepting  a  few,  whose  anxiety  was  too  great).  Passed 
very  pleasantly  on  by  Burlington,  Vt..  Essex,  N.  Y.  Saw  Miss  Deming  & 
Miss  French  on  the  dock,  but  could  not  speak  to  them.  Passed  up  by 
Crownpoint,  Ticonderoga,  Northwest  Bay,  Basin  Harbor  to  Whitehall. 
Stopped  at  Rocks;  viewed  the  big  ditch  and  Locks.  Took  post  coach  for 
Albany  5  ok.  morning.  Capt.  Ezra  Smith,  Misses  Chart.  Taylor.  Mary 
Angus,  Peters  and  Fish  in  company.  Arrived  at  Sandyhill  at  10  ok.  A.  M. 
Saw  Mr.  Rogers,  Uncle  Josiah,  and  Aunt  Clariss;  all  well.  Took  break- 
fast, attended  forenoon  church.  Dined  (Mr.  Roger  with  six)  at  Beard's. 
Took  Post  Coach  at  1  ok.  and  proceeded  on  down  the  North  River, 
through  several  most  delightful  Towns,  to  Watertown,  Lansingburgh.  Troy 
to  Albany,  where  we  arrived  about  8  ok.  in  the  evening.  The  ladies  almost 
overcome  with  fatigue.     Supped  and  retired. 

Miss  Peters  and  Fish  took  stage  for  Pittsfield,  Mass..  at  3  ok.  A.  M. 
Miss  Taylor  and  Angus  took  Steam  boat  for  New  York  at  9  A.  M.  I  re- 
mained m  Albany  till  next  morning  at  3  ok.,  and  took  stage  for  Hartford, 
Connct..  and  arrived  there  at  8  ok.  P.  M.  Stopped  at  Morgan's  Stage 
House.  Found  them  all  well  and  in  good  and  easy  circumstances.  Staid 
36  hours,  and  took  my  mother  and  went  to  New  London.  Saw  Lucretia, 
Ann  and  Abel.  All  well,  and  staid  18  hours,  and  went  on  to  South  Kings- 
ton in  Rhode  Island  to  see  my  sister.  Found  her  well  and  happy,  I  be- 
lieve. Staid  12  hours  and  returned.  Nothing  of  consequence  has  yet 
arrived,  and  finally  I  don't  believe  there  will  worth  taking  the  trouble  to 
record  before  I  get  to  Mackinac — so  I  will  stop  writing. 

Took  passage  in  the  Canal  Boat  Western  .  .  .  from  Whitesburgh. 
4  miles  from  Utica,  and  proceeded  through  the  big  ditch  to  Macedonia.  7 
miles  from  Auburn. 

A  more  useful  and  stupendous  work  could  not  have  been  conceived, 
planned  and  put  into  execution  than  this  canal.  To  see  navigable  streams 
diverted  from  their  natural  course  and  carried  through  the  heart  of  an 
inland  country  for  hundreds  of  miles  by  means  of  man,  and  upon  which 
glide,  in  easy,  quick,  and  uninterrupted  course,  boats  of  almost  any  bur- 
then upon  a  perfect  plane  or  level,  except  now  and  then  a  Lock,  astonishes 
a  reflecting  beholder,  and  excites  a  solemn  reverence — even  for  the  inge- 

74 


1820-1822 — Journey  to  Mackinac 


7o 


4^        ' 


The    first    page    of    Bfauinonl's    •'Traveling    Journal"     from    Plattsburgh    to 
Mackinac,  begun  May  6.  1820. 

nuity  and  perseverance  of  Man.  The  Great  Western  canal  diverts  the 
Navigation  of  the  V/estern  Lal^es  and  waters  from  its  natural  course 
down  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Canada,  and  from  there  to  the  ocean,  and 
brings  it  through  the  most  of  our  Western  States  into  the  North  River 
to  New  York  and  then  into  the  ocean.     Nothing  can  be  pleasanter  than 


76  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beamnont 

to  pass  through  the  canal  in  the  passage  boats,  for  you  have  nothing  to 
disturb  the  most  pleasant  feeling,  being  perfectly  safe  from  every  appre- 
hension of  danger  of  any  kind,  gliding  smoothly  along  upon  the  surface  of 
Still  water  at  the  rate  of  5  miles  and  through  a  most  delightful  country, 
in  plain  view  and  mostly  through  young  lands  and  flourishing  villages, 
rich  and  well-cultivated  farms,  covered  with  a  luxurient  growth  of  cul- 
tivated vegetation,  lofty  forests,  and  well  stocked  with  rich  herds  of 
cattle.  Should  the  canal  be  completed  upon  the  contemplated  plan  and 
carried  through  from  Lake  Erie  to  Albany,  it  will  convert  the  once  western 
wilds  into  a  cultivated  garden — it  will  be  like  a  living  stream  through  the 
midst  of  a  yard.  May  heaven  avert  any  and  everything  like  political  in- 
terruptions to  so  noble,  grand  and  useful  an  undertaking. 

Arrived  at  Auburn,  a  very  pleasant  and  flourishing  town,  7  miles  west 
of  the  Canal,  at  3  ok.  P.  M.  on  the  25th  inst.  In  this  place  a  States 
prison  is  building  of  stone  and  iron,  with  a  very  large  yard,  which  en- 
closes about  3  acres,  and  the  wall  built  of  solid  stone  12  or  15  feet  high 
and  4  feet  thick.  There  were  about  200  convicts  in  the  prison  at  this 
time.  I  visited  the  prison  in  company  with  Mr.  White,  of  Rome.  Went 
all  over  and  examined  it  throughout;  could  but  admire  the  cleanliness, 
order  and  good  condition  of  the  prisoners  and  overseer.  Visited  the 
United  States  arsenal  at  Rome:  found  it  in  very  neat  order.  Visited 
Hamilton  College,  Clinton,  a  most  delightful  site  in  Auburn.  Saw  an  ele- 
phant 14  feet  high  and  every  way  in  proportion,  also  a  Magot,  a  Leopard 
and  two  monkeys.    Left  Auburn  at  4  ok.  A.  M. 

26th.  In  stage  to  Buffalo.  Passed  through  Cayuga,  crossed  the  Lake 
over  a  bridge  a  mile  long;  Geneva,  a  very  pleasant  and  floTirishing  town, 
Waterloo,  Avons,  Canandaigua,  Bloomfield,  Geneseo,  Clam,  Batavia  and 
Williamsville,  all  very  pleasant  and  flourishing  towns,  to  Buffalo. 

27th,  6  A.  M.  At  Canandaigua  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morse  and  son  came  on 
board  the  Stage,  from  whom  I  anticipate  deriving  much  benefit  and  in- 
structions, as  we  shall  probably  proceed  together  to  Mackinac,  he  being 
on  a  mission  among  the  Indians  of  the  Country — West  and  Southwest,  etc. 
Arrived  at  Buffalo  on  Saturday,  27th  Inst.  Remained  at  the  place  over 
Sunday.  Attended  church.  Heard  young  Mr.  Morse  preach,  or  rather 
tried  to  hear  him.  Saw  Mrs.  Goodsell,  formerly  D.  Day;  took  tea  with 
her  at  an  old  acquaintance. 

Monday  morning,  29th.  Started  from  Buffalo.  Went  to  Black  Rock,  two 
miles,  in  company  with  Dr.  J.  Morse  and  son.  Crossed  over  to  Waterloo, 
U.  C,  and  proceeded  to  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  through  Bartie  Chippewa, 
viewed  the  field  of  Battle.  Passed  on  to  Bridgewater,  &  viewed  the  Battle 
ground  at  Lundy's  lane.  Dined  at  Wm.  Forsyth's.  Viewed  the  Falls 
above  and  below  on  Canada  side;  crossed  over  and  viewed  below  and 
above  on  the  American  side;  crossed  back  and  proceeded  to  Queenstown 
heights.  Viewed  the  Garrison,  composed  of  a  Sergeant's  guard  and  14 
men.  Crossed  the  Ferry  at  Queenstown  over  to  Lewiston.  Called  on 
B.  Cook,  Esq.,  and  his  father's  family;  staid  over  night.  In  the  morning 
came  up  on  the  American  side  to  the  falls;  viewed  what  is  called  Devil's 


1820-1822— Visits  Niagara  Falls 


77 


hole,  about  half  way  between  Lewiston  and  the  falls.  It  consists  merely 
of  a  transverse  fissure  or  excavation  in  the  perpendicular  banks  of  the 
River,  about  150  feet  high;  of  no  other  extraordinary  appearance  than  a 
hideous  precipice,  with  a  confused  mass  of  stones,  dirt,  and  trees  lying  at 
the  bottom.  Came  to  the  falls  and  crossed  over  the  famous  bridge  built 
by  Judge  Porter  across  the  rapids  just  above  the  falls,  extending  onto 
Deer  Island  in  the  middle  of  the  river  and  just  above  the  precipice. 
Viewed  the  island  as  thousands  have  before.  Saw  the  perfect  Rainbow 
about  9  Dk.  in  the  morning;  also  saw  it  in  the  evening  before  on  the  op- 
posite side.  Came  from  the  falls  to  Blackrock  on  the  American  side. 
Went  on  Board  the  Steam  boat  Walk-in-the-wateri  for  Detroit,  May 
30.  4  P.  M. 


'•TS'alk-in-the-"\Vater."   built  in  ISIS,  and  came  to  Mackinac  in  1S19.    (From  a 
wood  cut  in  ".\iinals  of  Fort  Mackinac,"  by  Dwight  H.  Kelton.) 


31st.  Got  under  way  at  9  ok.  this  morning.  Fair  wind  and  pleasant 
weather;  go  at  the  rate  of  nine  miles  an  hour.  Looking  over  an  old 
newspaper,  came  across  Doct.  Franklin's  "project  for  attaining  moral 
perfection, "2  to  wit: 

"It  was  about  this  time  I  conceived  the  bold  and  arduous  project  of 
arriving  at  moral  perfection.  I  wished  to  live  without  committing  any 
fault  at  any  time,  and  to  conquer  all  that  either  natural  inclination  or  cus- 
tom might  lead  me  into.  As  I  knew,  or  expected  I  knew,  what  was  right 
and  wrong,  I  did  not  see  why  I  might  not  always  do  the  one  and  avoid  the 
other.  But  I  soon  found  I  had  undertaken  a  task  of  more  difficulty  than 
I  had  imagined;  while  my  attention  was  taken  up  and  care  employed  in 
guarding  against  one  fault,  I  was  often  surprised  by  another  habit  which 


1  First  steamboat  on  the  Upper  Lakes. 

2  Doctor  Franklin's  project  is  reproduced  in  full,  first,  because  it  is  unique, 
and,  second,  because  Dr.  Beaumont  was  so  favorably  impressed  with  its  logic 
that  he  afterward  adopted  the  same  plan. 


78  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^ViUi(nn  Beaumont 

took  the  advantage  of  inattention.  Inclination  was  sometimes  too  strong 
for  reason.  I  concluded  at  last  that  the  mere  speculative  conviction  that 
it  was  our  interest  to  be  completely  virtuous  was  not  sufficient  to  prevent 
our  slipping,  and  that  the  contrary  habits  must  be  broken  and  good  ones 
acquired  and  established  before  we  can  have  any  dependence  on  a  steady, 
uniform  rectitude  of  conduct.  For  this  purpose,  therefore,  I  tried  the  fol- 
lowing method: 

"In  the  various  enumerations  of  the  moral  virtues  I  had  met  with  in 
my  reading,  I  found  the  catalogue  more  or  less  numerous,  as  different 
authors  included  more  or  fewer  ideas  under  the  same  name. 

"Temperance,  for  example,  was  confined  to  eating  and  drinking;  while 
by  others  it  was  extended  to  mean  the  moderating  of  every  other  pleas- 
ure— appetite,  inclination  or  passion,  bodily  or  mental,  even  to  our  ambi- 
tion. I  proposed  to  myself,  for  the  sake  of  clearance,  to  use  rather  more 
names,  with  fewer  ideas  annexed  to  each,  than  a  few  names  with  more 
ideas;  and  I  included  under  13  names  of  virtues  all  that,  at  that  time, 
occurred  to  me  as  necessary  and  desirable;  annexed  to  each  a  short  pre- 
cept which  fully  expresses  the  extent  I  gave  to  its  meaning. 

"These  names  of  virtues,  with  their  precepts,  were:  (1)  Temperance — 
Eat  not  to  dullness,  drink  not  to  elevation.  (2)  Silence — Speak  not  but  what 
may  benefit  others  or  yourself;  avoid  trifling  conversations.  (3)  Order — 
Let  all  your  things  have  their  place;  let  each  part  of  your  business  have 
its  time.  (4)  Resolution — Resolve  to  perform  without  fail  what  you  re- 
solve. (5)  Frugality — Make  no  expense  but  to  do  good  to  others  or  to 
yourself;  i.  e..  waste  nothing.  (6)  Industry — Lose  no  time;  be  always 
employed  in  something  useful;  cut  off  all  unnecessary  actions.  (7)  Sin- 
cerity— Use  no  hurtful  deceit;  think  innocently  and  justly,  and,  if  you 
speak,  speak  accordingly.  (8)  .Justice — Wrong  none  by  doing  injuries,  or 
omitting  the  benefits  that  are  your  duty.  (9)  Moderation — Avoid  ex- 
tremes; forbear  resenting  injuries  so  much  as  you  think  they  deserve. 
(10)  Cleanliness — Tolerate  no  uncleanliness  in  body,  clothes,  or  habita- 
tion. (11)  Tranquility — Be  not  disturbed  at  trifles,  nor  at  accidents,  com- 
mon or  unavoidable.  (12)  Chastity — Rarely  use  venery,  but  for  health  or 
offspring;  never  to  dullness  or  weakness,  or  the  injury  of  your  own  or 
another's  peace  or  reputation.     (13)  Humility — Imitate  Jesus  or  Socrates. 

"My  intentions  being  to  acquire  the  habitude  of  all  these  virtues,  I 
judged  it  would  be  well  not  to  distract  my  attention  by  attempting  the 
whole  at  once,  but  to  fix  it  on  one  of  them  at  a  time;  and  when  I  should 
be  master  of  that,  then  to  proceed  to  another,  and  so  on  till  I  should  have 
gone  through  the  whole  13 ;  and  as  the  previous  acquisition  of  some  might 
facilitate  the  acquisition  of  certain  others,  I  arranged  them  with  that 
view  as  they  stand  above.  Temperance  first,  as  it  tends  to  procure  that 
coolness  and  clearness  of  head  which  is  so  necessary  where  constant 
vigilance  was  to  be  kept  up  and  a  guard  maintained  against  the  unre- 
mitting attraction  of  ancient  habits  and  the  force  of  perpetual  tempta- 
tions. This  being  acquired  and  established.  Silence  would  be  more  easy; 
and  my  desire  being  to  gain  knowledge  at  the  same  time  that  I  improved 


1820-1822— Franklin  on  Moral  Perfection  79 

in  virtues,  and  considering  tliat  in  conversation  it  was  rather  obtained  by 
the  use  of  the  ear  than  of  the  tongue,  and  therefore,  wishing  to  break 
the  habit  it  was  getting  into  of  prattling,  punning,  and  jesting  (which 
only  made  me  accessible  to  trifling  company),  I  gave  silence  the  second 
place.  This  and  the  next  in  order  I  expected  would  allow  me  more  time 
to  attend  to  my  project  and  my  studies. 

"Resolution,  once  becoming  habitual,  would  keep  me  firm  in  my  en- 
deavor to  obtain  all  the  subsequent  virtues.  Frugality  and  industry,  re- 
lieving me  from  my  remaining  debts  and  producing  affluence  and  inde- 
pendence, would  make  more  easy  the  practice  of  sincerity  and  justice,  etc. 
Conceiving  that,  according  to  the  advice  of  Pythagoras  in  the  golden 
verses,  daily  examination  would  be  necessary,  I  contrived  the  following 
method  of  conducting  that  examination: 

"I  made  a  little  book  in  which  I  allotted  a  page  for  each  of  the  virtues. 
I  ruled  each  page  with  red  ink,  so  as  to  have  seven  columns,  one  for 
each  day  of  the  week,  marking  each  column  with  a  letter  for  the  day. 
I  crossed  these  columns  with  13  red  lines,  marking  the  beginning  of 
each  line  with  the  first  letter  of  one  of  the  virtues,  on  which  line  and  in 
its  proper  column  I  might  mark,  by  a  little  black  spot,  every  fault  I  found 
upon  examination  to  have  been  committed  respecting  that  virtue  upon 
that  day. 

'"I  determined  to  give  a  week's  strict  trial  and  attention  to  each  of  the 
virtues  successively.  Then  in  the  first  week  my  greatest  guard  was  to 
avoid  even  the  least  offence  against  temperance,  leaving  the  other  virtues 
to  their  ordinary  chance,  only  marking  every  evening  the  fault  of  the 
days.  Thus,  if  in  the  first  week  I  could  keep  my  first  line  marked  T  clear 
of  spots,  I  supposed  the  habit  of  that  virtue  so  much  strengthened,  and 
its  opposite  so  much  weakened,  that  I  might  venture  extending  my  atten- 
tion to  include  the  next,  and  the  following  week  keep  both  lines  free  from 
spots.  Proceeding  thus  to  the  last,  I  could  get  through  a  course  complete 
in  thirteen  weeks  and  four  courses  in  a  year. 

"And  like  him  who,  having  a  garden  to  weed,  does  not  attempt  to  eradi- 
cate all  the  bad  herbs  at  once,  which  would  exceed  his  access  and  his 
strength,  but  works  on  one  bed  at  a  time,  and,  having  accomplished  the 
first,  proceeds  to  the  second,  so  I  should  have,  I  hoped,  the  encouraging 
pleasure  of  seeing  on  my  pages  the  progress  made  in  virtue  by  clearing 
successively  my  lines  of  their  spots,  till  in  the  end  of  my  numbered 
courses  I  should  be  happy  in  viewing  a  clear  book  after  a  13  weeks'  daily 
examination."     .     .     . 

On  the  morning  of  May  31st  left  Black  Rock,  passed  up  by  Fort  Erie 
on  Canada  Side  and  Buffalo  on  the  American,  also  the  Towns  of  Erie, 
Grand  river,  Cleveland,  Sandusky  and  Put-in-Bay,  near  where  the  naval 
Battle  between  the  British  and  American  fieets  was  fought  in  1818  and  vic- 
tory gained  by  Com.  Perry.  Passed  by  IMalden  (C.  side),  ascending  the 
Detroit  river. 

The  Fort  at  Detroit  is  a  regular  work  of  an  oblong  figure,  covering 
about   an   acre   of   graceful    [slopes].     The   parapets   are   about   20  ft.   in 


80 


Life  and  Leiiers  of  Dr.  Williani  Beaumont 


1 820-1822 — Descrih  es  Michilim  ackinac 


81 


height,  built  of  earth  and  sodded,  with  4  bastions,  the  whole  surrounded 
with  palisades,  a  deep  ditch  and  glacis.  It  stands  immediately  back  of 
the  Town   and  has  strength  to  withstand   a  regular  siege,  but  does  not 

command  the  river.     There  are  now troops  stationed  there  under  the 

comd.  of . 

June  3d.  Rode  down  to  the  spring  wells  and  crossed  over  to  Sand- 
wich, a  small  French  village  about  three  miles  below  Detroit. 

Fort  Michilimackinac  is  handsomely  situated  on  the  S.  E.  side  of  the 
Island  of  this  name  on  a  buff  rock,  rising  from  100  to  200  feet  from  the 
water,  almost  perpendicular  in  many  places,  extending  about  half  way 
round   the  island.     It  overlooks   and  of  course  commands  the  harbor,   a 


One  of  the  block-houses  at  Mackinac,   built  by  the  British  in  1780.    (From  a 
wood  cut  in  "Annals  of  Fort  Mackinac,"  by  D wight  H.  Kelton.) 


beautiful,  semi-circular  basin  of  about  one  mile  in  extent  and  from  1  to 
5  or  6  fathoms  in  depth,  and  sheltered  from  Lake  Huron  by  two  islands 
stretching  across  its  mouth,  and  leaving  only  a  narrow  channel  by  which 
to  enter  the  harbor.  There  is  a  rise  of  ground  in  the  rear  of  the  Fort, 
on  which  is  built  a  stockade,  defended  by  two  Block  houses  and  battery 
in  front.     There  is  a  bomb  proof  Magazine  in  the  fort. 

This  Island  (Mackinac)  is  seven  and  a  half  miles  in  circumference. 
It  is  highest  in  the  center,  handsomely  crowning,  resembling  as  you  ap- 
proach it  at  a  distance  a  turtle's  back,  which  gave  name  to  the  Island — ■ 
Michilimackinac  signifies  Turtle.  The  ground  on  which  the  fort  stands 
is  150  to  100  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Lake  and  100  yards  from  the 
Shore.     It  is  neatly  built,  and  exhibits  a  beautiful   appearance  from  the 


82  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

water.  On  the  N.  E.  side  near  the  Shore,  and  80  feet  above  the  lake,  is 
an  arched  Rock,  20  ft.  in  diameter  at  top  and  30  at  the  bottom  or  base. 
Near  the  center  of  the  island,  on  a  plain,  stands  an  isolated  conical  rock 
in  the  form  of  a  sugar  loaf  30  feet  in  height,  which  is  perforated  in  vari- 
ous places,  and  the  holes  are  filled  with  human  bones.  In  another  part 
of  the  island  is  a  rock  called  the  skull  rock,  which  exhibits  a  similar  ap- 
pearance. 

June  3d.  Reported  to  Genl.  A.  ;\Iacomb.  Reed,  his  invitation  to  dine 
with  him;  accepted.  Saw  Mr.  Hatch,  from  Burlington,  Vt.,  formerly  in 
the  U.  S.  Quarter  Master's  Department.  Introduced  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  M., 
a  clergyman  of  this  place;  introduced  to  Capt.  Cross,  formerly  of  the 
U.  S.  Arty.,  now  an  atty.  of  Kaskaski,  Illns.  Territory.      .     .     . 

June  3d.  Visited  the  Cantonment.  Found  appearances  rather  indif- 
ferent. Observed  very  stormy  symptoms  of  dissipation  among  the  ofBcers 
of  the  Garrison. 

June  4th,  Sunday.  Attended  Presbyterian  church  in  the  forepart  of 
the  day;  heard  a  discourse  from  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morse.  Dined  with  Capt. 
Hatch.  Attended  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  afternoon;  witnessed  the 
great  annual  ceremony  of  the  celebration  of  our  Saviour.     .     .     . 

June  .5th,  Monday.  Nothing  worthy  noting  today.  Wrote  a  letter  to 
the  Surgn.  Genl.  for  permission  for  private  practice  at  Mackinac."  Wrote 
what  I  called  a  friendly  letter  to  Miss  Charlotte  Taylor.  Steam  boat  left 
for  Black  Rock  4  oclock  P.  M.  Gave  Capt.  Jos.  Cross,  late  of  U.  S.  A., 
now  a  lawyer  of  Illinois  Ter.,  a  letter  of  recomn.  to  Mr.  Switland,  of 
Plattsg.  Accidentally  came  across  a  new  Poem  by  Samuel  Wadsworth 
Called  "The  Poems,  odes,  songs  &  other  matricular  effusions  of  Samuel 
Wadsworth,  Author  of  'The  Champion  of  Freedom,'"  etc.  [?]  Spent  the 
evening  in  perusing  the  work;  it  is  a  very  interesting  publication,  and 
highly  worthy  to  be  read  in  my  humble  opinion,  and  from  which  I  extract 
the  following  lines  as  very  applicable  to  my  feeling,  to  wit: 

"When  Fate's  stern  fiat  dooms  fond  friends  to  part, 
What  thrilling  pangs  pervade  the  feeling  heart! 
With  ardent  glow  the  proffered  hand  is  press'd, 
While  the  moist  eye  bespeaks  the  aching  breast; 
The  final  gaze,  we  linger,  still  renew. 
Dreading  the  last,  the  painful  word.  Adieu. 
So  I,  a  bird  of  passage,  wont  to  rove,  [roving] 
Have  oft  been  doomed  to  leave  thousands  loving. 
Have  oft  been  fated  to  endure  the  smart 
Which  now  afflicts  my  lacerated  heart; 
That  heart,  alive  to  every  firm  glow. 
Enrapturing  joy,  or  ecstasy  of  woe." 


=  To  this  Surgeon-General  Lovell  replied:  "Secretary  of  war  has  no  obiection 
to  your  giving  your  professional  services  to  the  sick  of  Mackinac,  provided  it 
does  not  interfere  with  your  official  duties.  They  can  not.  however,  be  furnished 
from  the  public  chest." 


1820-1822— At  Fort  Michilimaclinac  83 

June  6th.  Tuesday.  Saw  Aunt  Mary  Hunt,  as  we  used  to  call  her 
when  she  lived  with  Col.  Snelling.  I  had  not  thought  of  her  (not  know- 
ing she  was  here)  until  she  came  out  of  a  house  and  spoke  to  me  as  I 
was  passing.  She  was  a  little  embarrassed  at  the  thought  of  being  seen 
to  hail  me  as  I  passed,  but  only  seemed  to  heighten  her  beauty.  She 
blushed  like  the  rose.  So  crimson  was  her  youthful  cheek  that  it  made 
even  the  sun  look  pale.  She  was  very  glad  to  see  me  and  hear  from  her 
friends  in  Piatt.,  after  whom  she  made  much  inquiry,  especially  Aunt 
Debby  &  Mr.  Green's  family.  I  staid  30  minutes,  and  left  her  still  blush- 
ing. Perused  Alex.  Mackenzie's  travels  principally  today,  from  which 
are  made  the  following  Knisteneaux  Indians'  names  of  the  months.     .     .     . 

June  14th,  Wednesday.  Nothing  of  consequence  transpired  for  10  or 
12  days  past.  Spent  my  time  principally  in  reading;  writing  some  for 
Revd.  Dr.  Morse;  drew  off  several  maps.  Dined  in  the  Cantonment  2  or  3 
times.    Made  a  few  acquaintances  and  less  visits. 

Started  this  morning  at  4  ock.  in  the  Steam  Boat  Walk-in-the-water 
for  Fort  Michilimackinac.  Had  on  board  Genl.  Macomb,  Col.  Wool,  Revd. 
Dr.  Morse  and  many  other  gentlemen.  Had  a  fine  breeze  and  fair  weather, 
a  thunder  shower  between  12  &  1  ok.  Adopted  the  following  maxim  this 
day:  "Trust  not  to  man's  honesty,  whether  Christian,  Jew,  or  Gentile. 
Deal  with  all  as  though  they  were  rogues  and  villains;  it  will  never  in- 
jure an  honest  person,  &  it  will  always  protect  you  from  being  cheated 
by  friend  or  foe.  Selfishness  or  villainy,  or  both  combined,  govern  the 
world,  with  a  very  few  exceptions."  At  sunset  arrived  at  the  lower  end 
of  Lake  Huron,  where  the  boat  anchored  for  the  night.     Here  stands  Fort 

Gratiot,    a   handsome    little    Fortification   erected    since   the    (Oh!    D , 

my  heart  a  vacuum  feels,  your  image  only  I  can  see;  and  wheresoever 
my  body  reels,  my  spirit  wings  its  way  to  thee)  war  on  a  beautiful  site. 
Attended  the  Insps.  Genl.  Col.  Wool  on  his  inspection  of  the  troops  of 
this  post.  Saw  Mrs.  Julia  Hunt,  and  returned  on  board  the  boat.  Got 
under  way  at  3  ok.  next  morning,  and  passed  through  Lake  Huron,  and 
arrived  at  IMackinac  on  the  16th  of  June  10  ok.  eve. 

17th.  Attended  the  Inspection  of  the  Troops  at  this  Garrison  with 
Genl.  Macomb  and  Col.  I.  E.  Wool.     Dined  with  Capt.  Pierce.^ 

18th.  Assumed  the  charge  of  the  Hospital  and  commenced  duty  in 
U.  S.  Service. 

19th  to  27th.  Nothing  extraordinary  occurred  during  this  time.  Ob- 
tained 2  horses  of  Capt.  Pierce,  and  procured  a  private  waiter  on  the  26th 
Inst.  .  .  .  My  thoughts  are  nightly,  and  every  night  and  all  the  night, 
with  thee,  and  faithful  servants  are  they  to  the  little  divinity  of  Love. 
Morpheus  sends  them  flying — fervent,  faithful  messengers  of  sleeping 
thoughts — to  bear  my  love  to  you.  Oh,  how^  long  doth  seem  our  separa- 
tion. Anxious  indeed  am  I  to  know  our  final  prospects.  Were  our  pres- 
ent happy  anticipations  to  be  destroyed,  &  our  hopeful  hearts,  sustaining 
prospects,    cut  off,    oh.    how   cheerless,   difiicult   and   desperate    would   be 


*  Capt.   B.   K.  Pierce,   brother  of  President  Franklin  Pierce,  and  commandant 
of  Fort  Mackinac.     ("Reminiscences  of  Early  Mackinac,"   by  Miss  Baird.) 


84 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^ViUianl  Beaumont 


au''C^  A'k.t'^<^*^f 


OL^ 


J. 


a^^*-Y'    tf ji €<^^fZ^  T^  ^ 


/r 


'    c'^^>v.>.^. /^Wr^-^'^^-/'^• 
-n.>  eatU  i^--'  ^i^^.    ^ 


A   page   of   Beaumont's   diary,    on   which    he   records    having  commenced   Dr. 
Franklin's  plan  for  attaining  moral  perfection. 


**>t^/^ 


the  future  scenes  of  life — a  deadly  banishment,  a  dark,  benighted  world!  — 
a  hopeless,  Joyless  life!  Could  I  not  think  of  you  by  day  and  dream  of 
you  by  night,  there  -would  be  no  zest  in  life — no  stimulus  to  act,  no  -wish 
to  live.     You  are  the  soul  of  my  existence.     For  you  I   live,  I   think,   I 


1820-1822 — Eeader  of  Classics  85 

act,  and  your  dear  image  do  I  cherish  with  increasing  fervency  and 
love.     .     .     . 

Sept.  9th,  1820.  Commenced  a  Diary  of  conduct  on  Dr.  Franldin's 
plan  for  attaining  Moral  perfection. 

Reading  Shakespeare  today,  I  judged  the  following  extracts  worthy 
of  copying:  "Love  all,  trust  a  few.  Do  wrong  to  none;  be  able  for  thine 
enemy,  rather  in  power  than  use;  &  keep  thy  friend  under  thy  life's  key; 
Be  checked  for  silence,  but  more  taxed  for  speech." 

10th.  Rose  at  6  ok.  Visited  my  patients  in  village  and  discharged 
Garrison  duty  before  9  ok.  A.  M.  Settled  my  hospital  a/c  with  Comd. 
&  perused  scriptures  &  Pope's  Essay  on  man  till  eve.  Reed,  letters  from 
Plattsh.  and  spent  the  evening  in  happy  perusal  &  fanciful  .  .  .  Re- 
tired at  10  P.  M.,  with  only  two  little  blots  on  my  book. 

11th.  Spent  this  day  wholly  in  performing  professional  duties,  prin- 
cipally with  Capt.  Knapp.    Vaccd.  Col.  Boyd's  infant. 

The  remainder  of  liis  diary  of  about  twenty  pages  is  devoted  to 
extracts  from  various  volumes  which  he  was  i3erusing,  among  them 
Autolycus'  doleful  ballads  in  Shakespeare's  plays  and  Shake- 
speare's "King  Henry,"  in  which  the  following  sentiment  appeals 
to  him  greatly:  "A  man  of  sterling  talents  and  pure  integrity  is 
a  blessing  to  any  people  or  community.  A  man  of  great  talents 
without  integrity  is  a  dangerous  pest  to  society.  A  man  of  true 
integrity  with  moderate  talents  is  a  useful  member  of  a  community. 
A  man  with  neither  talents  nor  integrity  is  a  nuisance  and  calamity 
to  any  people."  He  then  reviews  in  detail  eight  volumes  of  an 
account  of  the  Christian  religion  in  A.  ~D.  30,  at  the  end  of  which 
is  found  the  statement.  "The  first  mention  made  of  the  name 
Beaumont,  as  I  discover,  is  in  the  history  of  Navarre,  soon  after 
the  reign  of  Don  John,  emperor  of  Aragon,  in  about  the  year  1480, 
descended  from  the  family  of  Gaston  de  Foix. ' '  Following  this 
a  number  of  pages  are  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  EoUin's 
History  and  Homer's  Iliad,  and  the  last  few  pages  can  not  be 
deciphered. 

For  several  centuries  ]\Iackinac  had  figured  in  the  traditions  of 
the  Indian.  Jesuit  missionary,  coureur  des  bois,  voyageur,  and  fur 
trader,  and  within  the  walls  of  the  old  fort,  which  occupied  one  of 
the  highest  points  on  the  island,  had  mingled  in  years  gone  by  "the 
red  uniform  of  British  soldiers,  Canadian  gray  coats,  and  gaudy 
Indian  blankets."  This  fort  was  one  of  the  first  objects  of  attack 
in  the  war  in  which  our  surgeon  had  been  so  busily  engaged  on  the 
northern  frontier,  and  in  July,  1812,  Lieutenant  Hanks  was  com- 
pelled to  report  to  General  Hull  that  his  little  force  of  57  men  was 


86 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  }ViUiain  Beaumont 


unable  to  make  even  the  slightest  effort  to  hold  the  position  against 
"his  Brittanic  ^Majesty's  forces"  consisting  of  about  300  whites  and 
700  Indian  allies  (Chippewas,  Ottawas,  Sioux,  Winnebagoes,  JNIe- 
nonionies).  But  now  the  fort  was  again  in  the  peaceful  possession 
of  four  or  five  companies  of  United  States  troops,  of  which  Beau- 
mont was  to  be  the  sole  medical  adviser. 

Upon  his  arrival  here  he  promptly  assumed  the  duties  incumbent 


North  sally  port  of  the  old  fort  at  Mackinac,  fnrming  the  north  gate.    (From 
a  wood  cut  in  "Annals  of  Fort  Mackinac."  by  Dwight  H.  Kelton.) 


upon  him.  and  took  up  his  abode  in  the  east  end  of  the  officers'  stone 
quarters.^  erected  by  the  British  in  1780,  took  charge  of  the  small 
one-story  frame  hospital  and  perfected  its  organization,  with  James 
Homer  as  steward  and  wardmaster  and  his  wife  as  matron.  The 
fort  at  this  time  lay  within  the  intersecting  lines  of  three  block- 
houses, the  only  approach  being  through  two  arched  sally  ports, 
each  of  which  was  provided  witli  a  portcullis  that  could  be  dropped 


°  Surgeons  and  assistant  surgeons  were  ranked  as  commissioned  officers  in 
the  matter  of  choice  of  quarters — surgeons  next  after  majors,  assistant  surgeons 
of  over  ten  years'  service  with  captains,  etc.  The  officer's  stone  quarters  and 
the  small  frame  hospital  still  stand,  and  are  very  well  preserved.  The  latter, 
about  50  by  20  feet,  consisted  of  two  small  wards,  a  vestibule,  and  a  small 
kitchen. 


1820-1822~0n  Duty  at  the  Old  Fort 


87 


instantly  in  case  of  attack.  The  walls  were  of  stone  and  pointed 
cedar  pickets,  about  ten  feet  high,  tipped  with  three-pronged  spikes 
wherever  scaling  was  possible.  There  were  rows  of  loop-holes, 
through  which  firing  could  be  carried  on  when  fighting  off  the 
enemy,  and  a  few  pieces  of  artillery  were  mounted  in  block-houses. 
The  medical  officers  were  required  at  this  time  to  make  not  only 
monthly  reports  as  to  the  medical  supplies  on  hand,  cases  in  the 


South  sally  port  of  the  old  fort  at  Mackinac,  forming  the  south  gate.  (From 
a  wood  cut  in  "Annals  of  Fort  Mackinac,  '  by  Dwight  H.  Kelton.) 

hospital,  etc.,  but  a  "diary  of  the  weather"  as  well.  Beaumont 
manifested  considerable  interest  in  his  reports  on  weather  conditions, 
as  well  as  in  the  botanical  specimens  and  geological  formations 
which  he  found  here.  On  September  30,  1820,  for  instance,  he 
writes  to  the  surgeon-general  :^ 

I  can  not  forbear  expressing  a  deep  sense  of  Chagrin  at  being  under 
the  necessity  of  transmitting  the  copy  of  such  an  imperfect,  awkward  and 
useless  "Diary  of  the  Weather,"  principally  for  a  want  of  means  of  more 
accurate   Thermometrical   observations.     The  observations   on  the  course 


I*  Files  in  surgeon- general's  office. 


88  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

of   the    wind    and    appearance    of   the    Atmosphere    have    been    accurately 
taken  and  correctly  copied. 

Being  imperfectly  acquainted  \\'ith  the  science  of  Mineralogy,  and  des- 
titute at  present  of  the  necessary  means  for  accurately  analyzing  me- 
tallic ores,  I  take  the  liberty  of  transmitting  to  you  for  inspection  the 
fragment  of  a  large  piece  of  composition  that  was  dug  up  a  few  days 
since  on  the  island  in  excavating  the  earth.  Should  you  think  it  worthy 
your  attention  and  find  it  to  contain  anything  valuable,  I  should  be  highly 
gratified  to  receive  the  result  of  your  examination  and  your  opinion  and 
advice  on  the  subject.  The  small  specimens  in  the  small  paper  are  not 
of  the  same  kind  with  the  other,  but  were  contained  in  a  crude  piece  of 
composition  of  metallic  appearance  found  on  the  east  Shore  of  the  island 


The   officers'    stone   quarters   at   Mackinac,   built    in   17S0.      Beaumont  occupiecl 
one  end  of  the  building  and  the  commissioned  officers  the  other. 


and  obtained  in  its  present  form  by  pulverizing  and  washing.  I  hazard 
not  an  opinion  of  the  properties  of  either.  Be  they  what  they  may,  more 
of  the  same  abounds  on  the  island. 

He  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  look  after  the  welfare  of  the  sick 
soldiers  under  his  care,  and  to  further  the  interests  of  the  medical 
department  in  general.  If  he  felt  that  the  rights  of  his  department 
were  in  any  way  being  infringed  upon,  he  would  go  to  every  extreme 
to  prevent  the  injustice,  and  did  not  hesitate  to  express  himself  in 
unmistakable  terms  concerning  the  offender,  no  matter  what  his 
exalted  position  might  be.  A  few  month.s  after  his  arrival  in 
Mackinac,  IMa.jor-General  IMacomb,  at  the  request  of  the  agent  for 
Indian  affaii's  for  the  district  of  ]\Iichilimaekinac,  was  about  to 


1820-1822— PuUic  Gardens  in  Danger  89 

turn  over  a  portion  of  the  public  gardens  within  the  military  reser- 
vation for  the  erection  of  buildings  for  the  use  of  the  Indian 
Department.  As  soon  as  the  matter  was  brought  to  Dr.  Beaumont's 
notice  he  immediately  wrote  (November  1,  1820)  to  the  AYar  De- 
partment at  AYashington,'  inclosing  a  copy  of  General  Macomb's 
order : 

Impelled  by  a  sense  of  duty,  as  well  as  feelings  of  justice  and  humanity 
toward  the  sick  under  my  charge,  1  can  not  withhold  an  exhibition  of 
the  inclosed  order,  the  purport  of  which  you  will  see,  and  which,  if  car- 
ried into  effect,  will  wholly  deprive  me  of  the  domestic  means  of  ren- 
dering comfortable  the  invalids  under  my  care,  and,  if  not  immediately 
corrected,  will  permanently  infringe  the  rights  and  privileges,  not  only 
of  the  sick,  but  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  this  Garrison  generally. 

The  circumstances  of  the  order,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  are  as  follows: 
Mr.  George  Boyd,s  simple  Indian  Agent  and  citizen  of  this  district,  after 
arriving  here  in  the  Spring,  applied  to  Capt.  B.  K.  Pierce,  Comdg.  officer 
of  this  Post,  for  a  part  of  the  public  gardens  for  the  use  of  the  Indian 
Agency.  Capt.  Pierce,  actuated  by  purely  patriotic  motives  and  princi- 
ples of  justice  to  his  command,  refused  his  request,  and  explicitly  stated 
to  him  as  his  reasons  that  there  was  not  ground  enough  in  the  whole 
public  gardens  to  furnish  the  necessary  vegetables  for  the  use  of  the 
troops  of  this  Garrison,  agreeably  with  a  Genl.  Order  from  the  War  Dept. 
of  Sept.  11th,  1818.  Notwithstanding  this,  he  persisted,  it  seems,  in  his 
unreasonable  application  until,  through  the  undue  influence  of  some  per- 
son's representation  not  friendly  to  the  officers  of  this  comd.,  or  the 
Genl's  impatience  to  get  rid  of  his  perplexing  importunity,  the  order  had 
been  inconsiderately  granted,  regardless  of  opinion,  feelings,  comfort,  or 
convenience  of  the  officers  or  the  Garrison,  than  which  a  greater  injury 
or  injustice  of  the  kind  could  not  be  officially  imposed.  We  verily  hope 
that  the  Genl.,  after  receiving  the  joint  remonstrance  of  the  officers  of  this 
post,  will  countermand  his  own  order  without  any  further  trouble.  I 
deem  it  expedient,  however,  to  make  the  representation  to  you  as  the 
head  of  the  Medl.  Dept.  (and  to  the  Secy,  of  War,  if  you  think  proper 
to  exhibit  it),  as  I  am  in  duty,  as  well  as  inclination,  bound  to  protect 
the  rights  of  soldiers  and  preserve  the  comforts  of  the  sick  whenever  in- 
fringed. 


"  Files   in  surgeon-general's  office. 

s  About  a  decade  following  this  Incident,  Boyd  was  appointed  Indian  agent  at 
Green  Bay,  M.  T.  In  commenting  on  tliis  fact,  tlie  author  of  "Historic  Green 
Bay"  gives  a  fair  idea  of  the  type  of  man  with  wliom  Beaumont  had  entered 
into  competition:  "In  June  of  ttiat  year  Jolm  Quincy  Adams  appointed  to  tlie 
position  George  Boyd,  a  Maryland  gentleman  of  good  colonial  family,  whose 
wife  was  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Adams.  Colonel  Boyd  was  a  courtly  and  accomplished 
Southerner,  fond  of  wine,  good  dinners,  and  the  expensive  luxuries  of  life. 
Household  goods  used  in  his  Mackinac  establishment,  the  tall  silver  candlesticks, 
oval  mirrors  in  gilded  frames,  and  handsome  brasses,  are  a  matter  of  wonder 
when  one  considers  the  wilderness  through  which  they  w'ere  transported  and  the 
rude,  primitive  dwelling  they  were  destined  to  adorn."  ("Historic  Green  Bay, 
1634-1S40,"  bv  Ella  Hoes  Neville,  Sarah  Greene  Martin,  Deborah  Beaumont  Mar- 
tin, 1893.) 


90  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiam  Beaurnejnt 

Depending  upon  the  Heads  ot  the  respective  Depts.  for  redress,  I  do 
most  confidently  expect  it  from  your  just  and  timely  interposition  if  not 
immediately  corrected  by  the  authority  from  whence  It  originated.  A 
lively  interest  &  even  indignation  can  not  fail  of  being  excited  in  every 
manly,  just,  liberal  and  reflecting  mind  on  considering  the  nature  of  the 
aggrievance  of  which  I  complain  and  the  injustice  of  its  origin. 

The  ground  contended  for  by  Mr.  Boyd  contains  one-half  or  more  of 
all  the  public  gardens  of  this  garrison,  which  have  been  for  twenty  years 
or  more  exclusively  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  Military  and  by  them 
alone  brought  to  their  present  state  of  improvement  and  fruitfulness, 
principally,  too,  at  the  private  expense  and  personal  industry  of  the  suc- 
cessive officers  of  this  Post,  and  which  even  now,  after  so  many  years 
of  incalculable  labour  to  render  them  productive,  is,  from  the  circum- 
scribed bounds  and  natural  barrenness  of  the  soil,  insufficient  to  furnish 
the  necessary  supply  of  vegetables  for  the  present  number  of  troops  at 
this  garrison.  What  most  particularly  claims  my  attention,  and  in  my 
humble  opinion  requires  your  interposing  influence,  is  the  deprivation  it 
will  be  to  the  sick  and  invalids — that  class  of  soldiers  most  essentially 
benefited  by  garden  privileges — and  the  detriment  it  will  be  to  the  Medical 
Dept.,  inasmuch  as  it  will  take  the  whole  of  the  Hospl.  Garden  of  this 
garrison,  which  has  been  many  years  occupied  and  improved  for  that  par- 
ticular use,  and  without  which  the  sick  must  suffer  for  want  of  many 
vegetable  comforts  not  otherwise  to  be  obtained  on  this  Island.  Should 
this  garden  be  taken  from  the  Hospl.,  another  can  not  be  selected  on  the 
public  reservation  of  equal  use  and  convenience,  and  it  is  securely  in- 
closed with  pickets,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  garrison,  within  the 
view  of  the  common  and  established  sentinel,  has  been  improved  for  a 
Hospt.  Garden  for  many  years,  and  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  use  of  the 
sick,  handsomely  laid  out  into  squares,  walks,  alleys,  etc.,  with  bowers  of 
biennial  and  perennial  plants,  fruit  trees,  etc.,  besides  the  germs  of  other 
medicinal  plants  and  ornamental  flowers,  the  seeds  of  which  I  brought 
from  the  interior  and  have  been  at  considerable  trouble  and  expense  to 
introduce  into  this  garden  for  the  future  use  of  the  sick. 

Another  reason  why  I  feel  tenacious  of  retaining  this  ground  for  the 
use  of  the  Hospt.  is  that  it  contains  the  Humulus  Lupulus;*  (very  difficult 
of  culture  in  this  country),  and,  I  believe,  is  the  only  root  or  branch 
to  be  found  on  this  Island,  and  which  I  have  taken  special  pains  to  cul- 
tivate since  my  arrival  here  for  the  express  purpose  of  making  a  healthy 
and  pleasant  beverage  for  the  use  of  the  sick  and  convalescents.  I  also 
intend  introducing  it  among  the  well  as  a  substitute  for  the  use  of  whis- 
key, which,  I  believe,  may  be  partially  carried  into  effect  if  the  garden  be 
not  taken  from  us. 

I  have  likewise  introduced  the  seed  and  am  endeavoring  to  cultivate 
the  Papavar  Somniferumi"  and  the  Marrubium  Vulgari,"  which  are  very 


»  Hop.s. 

1"  Opium  plant. 

11  Horehoiuid. 


1820-1822 — Plea  for  Justice  mid  Humanity  91 

efficacious  in  many  diseases,  and  more  especially  the  obstinate  pulmonary 
complaints  of  this  country. 

Mr.  Boyd  is  sent  here  to  perform  duties  which,  compared  with  the 
duties  of  the  officers  of  this  post,  are  nothing  at  all,  with  a  salary  of  14 
or  1500  dollars  a  year,  besides  the  perquisites  of  5  or  6000  dollars  appro- 
priation for  the  use  of  the  Indian  Dept.,  for  the  express  purpose  of  fur- 
nishing the  requisite  means  for  accomplishing  the  object  of  his  agency. 
There  is  abundance  of  other  public  ground,  less  improved,  but  equally 
convenient  for  all  his  purposes,  without  any  discomfort  of  the  Military,  yet 
he  seems  inexorably  determined  to  wrest  from  us  our  Hospt.  and  private 
gardens,  regardless  of  the  principles  of  justice  and  humanity. 

Perhaps  you  will  think  me  too  circumstantial  in  my  communication, 
but,  sensibly  feeling  the  responsibility  of  preserving  the  health  and  re- 
storing the  sick  of  this  post,  the  importance  of  maintaining  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  Military,  and  knowing  the  detriment  and  injustice 
it  will  be  to  the  soldiery,  and  especially  the  sick  and  invalids,  to  be  de- 
prived of  the  present  and  long  enjoyed  scanty  privileges  of  this  garden, 
I  am  compelled  by  an  imperious  sense  of  duty  thus  to  make  the  represen- 
tation. Government  must  either  supply  the  means  of  purchasing  the 
vegetable  comforts  heretofore  furnished  from  this  garden,  prevent  our 
being  dispossessed,  or  the  sick  must  suffer  the  deprivation. 

I  presume.  Sir,  you  will  readily  form  an  idea  of  our  wants  and  pri- 
vations in  this  isolated,  barren  Isle,  even  under  the  most  favorable  en- 
joyments of  all  the  privileges  we  can  avail  ourselves  of,  and  will  duly 
appreciate  our  condition,  and  redress  our  aggrievances,  as  far  as  in  your 
power,  by  the  timely  application  of  your  influence.  Humanity  requires 
it  from  the  Medical  Dept.,  and  justice  demands  it  from  the  Nation. 

I  was  unable  to  find  in  the  files  of  the  War  Department  the  final 
decision  on  this  question,  but  further  developments  at  Mackinac 
show  that  Beaumont  won  his  case.  The  Indian  agency  was  built 
about  three  hundred  feet  east  of  the  garden  and  was  destroyed  by 
fire  in  1873.  Up  to  that  time  it  remained  as  one  of  the  old  land- 
marks, to  which  the  natives  pointed  with  much  pride  and  interest. 
It  was  here  that  Henry  R.  Schoolcraft,  the  versatile  linguist, 
traveler,  geologist,  and  explorer,  lived  for  eight  years  while  serving 
his  government  in  the  capacity  of  Indian  agent.  Constance  Feni- 
more  Woolson  has  immortalized  ' '  the  old  agency ' '  in  the  story  of 
' '  Anne, ' '  so  that  now  the  old  structure  is  always  referred  to  by  the 
islanders  as  "the  home  of  Anne."  The  building  served  as  both 
residence  and  office  of  the  Indian  agent,  to  which  the  Indians  came 
in  great  numbers  to  receive  their  annuity.  It  was  surrounded  by 
palisades,  and  on  pay  days  the  gates  were  guarded  by  soldiers  from 
the  fort.^- 


12  "Early  Mackinac,"  by  Meade  C.  V\^illianis. 


92  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^yilliam  Beaumont 

The  village  of  ]\laekinac,  which  lay  just  at  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
crowned  by  the  old  fort,  consisted  of  a  row^  of  one-story  log  struc- 
tures, with  a  magnificent  beach  stretching  along  the  bay  in  front 
of  them.  ]\Iany  of  these  houses  were  also  inclosed  within  picket 
walls  or  fences  to  protect  the  residents  from  the  marauding  and 
drunken  Indians.  The  settlement  could  boast  at  this  time  of  about 
500  inhabitants,  chiefly  French  Canadians  and  half-breed  Indians, 
whose  sole  occupation  was  hunting,  fishing,  and  trading  in  furs. 
It  had  also  been  for  several  years  the  headquarters  of  the  American 
Fur  Company  and  the  rendezvous  of  Indian  traders.  The  officers 
of  the  fur  company  and  the  officers  at  the  barracks  and  their 
families,  among  whom  were  but  12  white  women,  formed  the  social 
set  of  the  island.  During  the  summer  months,  when  the  clerks, 
traders,  and  voyageurs  employed  by  the  fur  company  assembled 
here  Avith  the  result  of  their  winter's  work,  and  the  process  of 
counting,  assorting,  appraising,  and  packing  pelts  was  conducted, 
the  little  frontier  village  suddenly  assumed  the  busy  air  of  a  sea- 
port town,  and  for  at  least  a  short  period  the  variegated  population 
was  swelled  to  4,000  or  5,000. 

In  order  to  introduce  several  characters  who  play  an  important 
role  in  later  chapters  of  tliis  work,  a  few  words  may  be  said  at  this 
point  concerning  the  American  Fur  Company  and  some  of  its  most 
prominent  officers. 

In  1809  John  Jacob  Astor  conceived  the  gigantic  scheme  of 
establishing  in  the  extreme  northwest,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
river,  a  large  fur  trading  emporium,  with  a  line  of  smaller  posts 
along  the  Missouri  and  Columbia  rivers,  by  means  of  which  he 
hoped  to  have  absolute  control  of  the  fur  trade  of  the  entire  north- 
west section.  From  the  chief  station,  which  he  proposed  to  call 
Astoria,  supplies  were  to  be  distributed,  and  furs  were  to  be  received 
from  the  substations  and  shipped  by  water  to  all  parts  of  the 
world,  especially  the  Orient. 

The  story  of  the  two  expeditions  which  he  sent  out  by  land  and 
sea  is  told  most  interestingly  by  AVashington  Irving  in  "Astoria." 
We  are  not  especially  interested  in  the  remarkable  expedition  by 
water,  which,  after  manifold  experiences,  fights,  intrigues,  and 
mutiny,  reached  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river.  The  land  ex- 
pedition was  assembled  at  St.  Louis  in  October,  1810,  in  charge  of 
Wilson  Price  Hunt,  aided  by  Eamsay  Crooks,  a  young  Scotchman, 
W'ho  is  one  of  the  chief  ob.jects  of  this  portion  of  our  narrative. 


1820-1822 — American  Fur  Company  93 

Mr.  Crooks  was  a  man  of  excellent  education,  rare  judgment,  won- 
derful enterprise,  and  unquestionable  integrity,  a  mild  man  who 
rarely  lost  his  temper,  and  "who  governed  men  by  ciuiet  reasoning 
and  mild  command  rather  than  by  dictation."  "With  all  this  cul- 
ture and  refinement,  he  became  a  typical  frontiersman — a  fearless 
hunter  and  adventurer.  Mr.  Hunt  considered  himself  fortunate  to 
have  such  a  man  to  lend  him  support  and  aid  in  the  conducting 
of  his  motley  crew  of  voyageurs,  interpreters,  trappers,  and  natu- 
ralists through  the  western  wilds.  How  the  party  left  St.  Louis  in 
October  and  fought  its  way  foot  by  foot  through  the  wilderness, 
sub.jected  at  different  times  to  Indian  warfare  and  intrigue,  to 
starvation,  desert  thirst,  wintry  blasts  on  the  plains,  and,  Mr. 
Crooks  especially,  to  serious  illness,  and  how  after  sixteen  months, 
February  15,  1812,  they  completed  an  expedition  second  only  to 
that  of  Lewis  and  Clark  from  the  standpoint  of  courage,  physical 
endurance,  and  historical  importance,  is  a  matter  of  common  knowl- 
edge today. 

In  June  of  the  same  year  I\Ir.  Crooks,  Robert  Stewart,  and  others 
of  the  party  started  back  over  the  same  route  to  convey  the  news  to 
]\Ir.  Astor  of  the  planting  of  the  American  flag  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia,  of  the  establishment  of  Astoria,  and  of  the  status  of  the 
fur  trade  in  that  section.  The  return  trip  was  made  in  ten  months, 
and  the  party  arrived  in  St.  Louis  in  April,  1813,  only  to  find  that 
war  was  being  waged  with  Great  Britain.  Before  INIr.  Crooks  could 
report  the  progress  at  Astoria,  ~Mv.  Astor  knew  only  too  well  the 
fate  that  was  in  store  for  his  pet  scheme.  In  December  the  Raccoon, 
a  British  man-of-war,  took  the  American  post  on  the  Pacific,  and 
Astoria,  established  after  the  expenditure  of  much  money  and 
human  endurance,  fell  into  British  hands  and  became  Fort  George. 
Undaunted  by  these  enormous  losses,  Astor  now  concentrated  his 
efforts  on  Mackinac,  bought  out  the  Southwest  Company,  obtained 
favorable  legislation  through  Congress,  and  rallied  those  of  his  men 
who  had  proved  their  loyalty  in  this  expedition  around  the  standard 
of  the  rejuvenated  American  Fur  Company,  with  ]\Iackinac  as  its 
headquarters. 

Thus,  in  1817,  we  find  Ramsay  Crooks  general  director  of  the 
affairs  of  the  company,  with  Robert  Stewart  in  charge  of  the  outside 
work,  both  being  partners  in  the  concern.  The  work  of  reorgan- 
izing went  on  rapidly.  W.  AA^.  IMatthews,  who  had  the  general  man- 
agement of  the  fur  company's  warehouses,  was  sent  to  Alontreal  to 


94  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

engage  young  Canadian  clerks  and  voyageurs.  Avhom  he  transported 
in  open  bateaux  through  the  Great  Lakes  to  IMackinae.  Among 
them  Avas  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  then  a  boy  of  18  years  of  age.  John 
H.  Kinzie  was  put  in  charge  of  the  company's  retail  store,  and 
AYilliam  Morrison  looked  after  its  affairs  in  Canada. 

^Mackinac  became  the  center  of  a  series  of  trading  posts  established 
in  a  large  territory,  including  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan.  Lake 
Huron.  Lake  Superior,  and  the  ^lississippi  country.  In  the  fall, 
brigades  consisting  of  several  bateaux,  each  manned  by  a  clerk  and 
five  to  eight  voyageurs.  started  for  their  distant  stations,  the  clerk 
usually  guiding  and  the  voyageurs  propelling.  The  boats  Avere 
large,  capable  of  containing  not  only  provisions  and  clothing,  but 
about  three  tons  of  merchandise  to  be  used  in  bartering  with  the 
Indians. 

The  voyageurs.  like  the  "coureurs  des  bois. ''  formed  a  sort  of 
fraternity,  gradually  developed  through  the  demands  of  the  fur 
trade.  They  were  French  Canadians,  sprung  from  the  "habitant 
class, ' '  but  dififering  from  the  habitant  in  that  they  Avere  of  a  roving 
disposition,  and  at  home  only  in  and  on  the  AAater.  Once  on  land, 
however,  he  becomes  a  shiftless  felloAV.  spending  his  time  in  revelry 
and  dissipation  until  the  hard-earned  money  representing  the  sum 
total  of  his  Avinter's  earnings  is  entirely  dissipated.  About  3.000 
of  these  light-hearted  felloAvs  were  in  the  employ  of  the  American 
Fur  Company,  and  in  the  months  of  June  and  July  came  in  from 
their  scA'eral  trading  posts  in  the  Indian  country,  bounded  by  the 
British  dominion  on  the  north,  the  ^Missouri  river  on  the  Avest,  and 
the  Avhite  settlements  on  the  east.  The  Indians  from  the  upper 
lakes  simultaneously  brought  in  their  bark  canoes  filled  Avith  Avares 
Avhich  they  Avished  to  dispose  of,  and  for  a  feAV  months  at  least 
^lackinac  could  boast  of  a  A-ariegated  transient  population  of  5.000 
men  or  more. 

It  AA'as  at  this  season  that  Beaumont  made  his  appearance  in  the 
midst  of  this  motley  eroAvd.  He  found  the  beach  lined  with  Indian 
AvigAvams  and  tents  of  traders  and  voyageure.  who  could  not  find 
lodging  in  the  old  agency  house.  Dances  and  parties,  jollifications 
and  fights,  and  the  AAhoops  of  drunken  Indians  greeted  him  by 
day  and  night.  The  scene  Avas  A^ery  different  from  that  Avhich  he 
had  just  left  on  the  placid  shores  of  Lake  Champlain.  But.  soldier- 
like, he  promptly  entered  on  the  duties  before  him,  and  Avas  soon 
engaged  in  his  usual  painstaldng  Avork  up  at  the  old  fort,  Avhich 


1820-1822— Life  of  the  Voyageur  95 

frowned  upon  the  hilarious  scenes  in  the  village.  Not  only  was  he 
looking  after  the  interests  of  the  little  garrison,  but  he  had  obtained 
permission  to  engage  in  private  practice  as  well,  for  he  was  the 
only  physician  on  the  island.  At  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  there- 
fore, he  had  much  to  do  as  the  result  of  the  dissipation  which  he 
found  in  the  garrison,  drunken  brawls  on  the  beach,  and  injuries 
of  various  sorts.  On  one  occasion  we  find  the  hot-headed  Scotch- 
man, Mr.  Stewart,  cudgeling  two  of  his  unruly  men  almost  to  the 
point  of  insensibility.  "Dr.  Beaumont,  the  surgeon  of  the  fort, 
was  sent  for,  who  examined  the  man,  and  pronounced  his  skull 
fractured  and  the  result  doubtful.  Mr.  Stewart  was  in  great  dis- 
tress, and  himself  cared  for  the  man  through  the  night,  being  much 
relieved  in  his  mind  when  the  Doctor  told  him  in  the  morning  that 
he  thought  the  man  would  live,  though  a  slight  increase  in  the  force 
of  the  blow  would  certainly  have  killed  him."^'^  Many  such  oppor- 
tunities must  have  presented  themselves  during  the  assembly  of  this 
throng,  for  fighting  was  a  pastime  among  them,  and  each  brigade 
had  its  stout  fellow,  characterized  by  a  black  feather  which  he  wore 
in  his  cap.  When  there  was  a  fight  between  the  bullies  of  two 
brigades,  the  man  winning  was  given  the  feather.  Such  customs 
and  regulations  were  destined  to  supply  surgical  material. 

The  following  record  may  be  presented  as  a  fair  example  of  his 
work  at  this  period,  showing  his  careful  observation  and  interpre- 
tation of  symptoms,  and  the  application  of  rational  therapy, 
medical  and  surgical. 

Shaw,  a  private  soldier  in  Capt.  B.  K.  Pierce's  Compy.,  U.  S.  Arty.,  was 
struck  with  a  heavy  club  over  the  head,  which  blow  depressed  a  portion 
of  the  OS  frontis  on  the  left  side  about  %  inch,  fracturing  (or  rather  pro- 
ducing a  fissure)  in  the  inner  table  of  the  skull,  running  from  the  frontal 
sinus  obliquely  toward  the  coronal  angle  of  the  parietal  bone. 

The  injury  was  done  on  the  morning  of  the  7th  Deer.,  1820.  He  ap- 
peared stupid  from  that  time.  Would  walk  about  when  compelled,  but 
said  nothing,  except  yes  and  no  occasionally.  Looked  wild  with  his  eyes, 
and  they  frequently  seemed  obliquely  fixed  towards  the  right  side.  Com- 
plained of  nothing.  Continued  in  this  condition  24  hours,  when  he  was 
attacked  with  spasm,  commencing  in  his  eyes,  mouth,  and  muscles  of  the 
face,  drawing  to  the  right  side  invariably,  and  extending  to  the  head, 
neck  and  breast,  and  sometimes  became  univei'sal  and  violent  over  the 
whole  system,  but  mostly  so  upon  the  right  side,  the  left  appearing  rather 


^3  "Incidents  in  the  life  of  Gurdon  Saltonstall  Hubbard,"  by  Henry  E.  Hamil- 
ton, 1888. 


96  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiarn  Beaumont 

pai'alytio  than  otherwise.  This  is  the  appearau'-e  exhibited  the  first  time 
I  saw  him,  which  was  six  days  after  the  injury  was  reed.  He  had  then 
been  brot  10  or  15  miles  through  the  snow  and  cold  on  a  train,  and  was 
W'et  and  chilled  thro.  On  examination  found  marks  of  a  heavy  blow  tipon 
the  OS  frontis,  considerable  contusion  and  extravasation  of  blood  abotit 
the  left  eye,  but  no  evident  fracture  or  depression.  His  extremeties  cold, 
and  spasms  every  10  or  15  mintites,  severe  and  increasing.  Comatose,  in- 
sensible, loss  of  muscular  motion,  laborious  breathing  and  small  pulse. 
Eyes  half  open,  rolling  and  insensible  to  the  Stimulus  of  light.  In  this 
situation  1  reed,  him  into  the  Hospl.  13th  Dec.  Had  him  immediately 
washed  all  over  with  warm  soap  suds,  and  rtibbed  with  warm  campd. 
spts.  Gave  him  Ether,  Laudn,  and  spts.  of  Ammonia  &  warm  valerian 
and  castor  for  two  or  three  hours  to  restore  the  action  of  the  extremities 
and  raise  the  circulation.  This  done,  I  opened  a  vein  and  took  10  or  12 
oz.  blood,  which  gave  very  slight  relief.  I  then  administered  10  grs.  Cal. 
and  5  valerian,  twice  repeated,  followed  by  a  cathc.  injection;  produced 
several  free  stools.  Spasms  continued  to  increase  in  frequency  and  form 
for  18  hrs.  Finding  no  probabilitj-  of  radical  relief  from  medical  means, 
I  thought  it  advisable  to  perforate  the  cranium  under  the  belief  that  ex- 
travasated  fluids  were  effused  upon  the  brains  and  required  to  be  dis- 
charged. Although  there  was  no  fracture  or  even  evident  depression  to 
be  discovered  external  of  the  integuments,  yet  presuming,  from  the  direc- 
tion of  the  blow  and  the  appearance  of  the  contusion,  it  must  be  beneath 
the  frontal  bone  of  the  side  injured,  I  made  a  round  incision  over  this, 
and  on  dissecting  found  an  evident  depression  of  the  skull  i/^  inch.  Ap- 
plied the  trephine  about  the  center  of  the  bone  2  inches  above  the  frontal 
sinus,  and  on  taking  out  the  circular  piece  found  a  fissure  extending  ex- 
actly across  its  center,  in  a  direction  from  the  sinus  towards  the  coronal 
angle  of  the  left  parietal  bone.  A  quantity  of  dark,  grumous  blood  oozed 
from  the  incision  of  the  saw  as  it  cut  through,  and  much  more  discharged 
by  depressing  the  dura  mater  and  elevating  the  depressed  portion. 

The  spasms  continued  during  the  operation  with  unabated  force  and 
frequency,  and  for  12  hours  after;  they  then  became  less  frequent,  but 
eqtially  hard.  The  side  opposite  the  injury  was  most  effected  by  spasm. 
Operation  performed  between  3  and  4  OK  P.  M.  12th.  Gave  him  an  Infn. 
of  val.  and  Castor  through  the  night.  Spasms  continued  to  diminish  in 
frequency. 

13th.  Spasms  continued  thro  the  night,  but  less  frequent — equally 
hard.  Other  variations  of  symptoms — Sweat  profusely,  passed  his  water 
freely,  Tongue  typhoid,  countenance  cadaverous.  Removed  the  superficial 
dressing  and  cleansed  the  wound.  Did  not  look  very  bad.  Fill'd  it  with 
Carbon,  and  applied  the  carbon  poultice  over  the  whole.  Rubbed  all  over 
warm  soap  suds  and  campd.  spts.  Administered  Spts.  Mindarari  and 
Soluble  Tartar,  tablespoonful  every  two  hours  alternately.  Arrow  root 
and  gruel  for  diet.  Spasms  much  less  frequent  and  diminished  in  force 
this  evening.     Tongue  moist,  pulse  sinking,  symptoms  less  favorable. 

7  OK.  P.   ^I.   14th.     Continued  sinking,  spasms  less  in  force  and  fre- 


1820-1822~An  Affair  of  ike  Heart  97 

quency  as  natui'e  expires.     Every  remedy  ineffectual.     Died  14th  Decem- 
ber, 6  OK.  P.  M. 

3  hours  after  demise  opened  and  examined  head.  Found  a  fracture 
about  5  inches  long,  extending  from  within  about  half  an  inch  of  the 
center  of  the  os  frontis,  running  obliquely  towards  the  base  of  the.  ear, 
with  two  short  transverse  fractures  running  in  a  direction  towards  the 
coronal  angle  of  the  parietal  bone,  across  which  I  cut  with  the  circular 
saw,  as  mentioned  in  the  operation.  The  depression  was  .  .  .  and 
very  slight;  the  extravasation  was  extensive,  both  external  and  internal 
of  the  dura  mater.  Firm  adhesions  had  taken  place  between  Dura  mater 
and  brain  above  the  left  hemisphere.  Suppuration  had  formed  as  abscess 
in  about  the  center  of  the  left  lobe  of  the  cerebrum.  A  large  quantity  of 
grumous  and  extravasated  blood  was  diffused  between  the  dura  and  pia 
mater  through  the  left  hemisphere.  The  right  hemisphere  was  sound 
and  healthy. 

While  it  is  very  evident  that  he  was  deeply  interested  in  the 
work  that  he  found  to  do  here,  it  is  also  very  evident  from  certain 
references  in  his  diary  that  his  whole  heart  was  not'  in  this  work. 
In  ]\Iarch.  therefore,  he  requested  a  furlough  to  return  to  Platts- 
burgii  to  be  married.  This  was  granted,  with  the  proviso  that  a 
surgeon  could  be  obtained  to  supply  his  place.  So  he  soon  wended 
his  way  back  to  Plattsburgh,  his  thoughts  evidently  so  completely 
occupied  by  the  happy  prospects  of  the  realization  of  his  dreams  of 
the  past  year  that  he  found  but  little  time  for  recording  the  oc- 
currences of  this  trip.  He  made,  however,  a  few  notes,  and  kept  an 
expense  account,  which  ran  as  follows : 

JOUEXAL   FEOM    MACKINAC    TO    PlATTSBURGH,    At'GT..    1821. 

Augt.  9th,  4  P.  M.  Left  Mackinac,  $2.25.  Fair  wind,  fine  weather, 
pleasant  passage.  Some  agreeable  passengers,  1  buffoon,  1  quack,  1  ex- 
centricity. 

10th.  Strong  head  wind,  progress  slowly.  Several  sea-sick — so  my- 
self; 2  P.  M.,  wind  so  strong  that  S.  B.  had  to  put  back  15  miles.  Wind 
subsiding;  she  came  about  again  at  4  P.  M.,  and  made  good  headway  all 
night. 

11th.  Pleasant  weather;  wind  in  favor,  progress  6  miles  an  hour. 
Entered  the  mouth  R.  St.  Clair  about  5  P.  M.,  passed  Ft.  Gratiot,  ran 
down  about  a  mile.  Boat  stopped  to  take  in  more  passengers;  $.50; 
some  of  them  landed.  Got  under  way  at  sunset,  and  ran  down  the  river 
nearly  40  miles  in  4  hours  to  the  flatts  and  lay  by  till  daylight.  Passed 
the  British  vessel  Wellington  in  the  flatts  aground.  Entered  Lake  St. 
Clair  about  6  A.  M. ;  $.30.  Had  a  very  pleasant  passage  thro  that  beau- 
tiful small  Lake,  most  delightfully  bordered  on  either  side  by  fine,  culti- 
vated farms,  neat  and  commodious  houses.  Arrived  at  the  city  of  De- 
troit at  10  A.  M.  of  the  12th.     Dined  at  Col.  Mac's.     Rode  20  miles  into 


98 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiani  Beaumont 


the  country  with  Capt.  Pierce  to  view  his  land  in  Oakland  county,  $.50, 
13th.  Returned  next  morning;  dined  at  Col.  Mac's  at  2  P.  M.;  came  on 
board  S.  B.  at  4;  ran  down  the  river  to  Maiden  in  2  hours,  18  miles. 

14th,  6  A.  M.  At  Sandusky  bay;  at  2  P.  M.  at  Cleveland;  at  6  P  M.  at 
Grand  river;  15th,  at  7  A.  M.  at  Erie.  Weather  delightfully  pleasant  and 
wind  fair.     Arrived  at  Bk.  Rk.  at  7   P.  M.,  51  hours  onlv  from  Detroit. 


]\I.\KRIKD  in  litis  town  on  Sa(- 

iird.j*  !;•.'>». '>>■   llje    Rtv.  FiojIi  ri»  k 

H..Im'.>,  y  ?»'.  Jf^  SatlcThc.  Cii-:.H'i' 

oi'tUv  I'-.ink  of  IMrtdslitirgh.  lo  Miss 

,^L'uvn('ii(i  (ticcn,  (l.tui^hltM*  ol*  Josi  pf^i 

/^  On  Siiiulav  ihf  ^'(Jifi  itii^l.  I>v  ihe 
>•  Eiv.  ih'.  Jialspv,  Docf,  jAjtiian 
*^  .frto/,  of  «}.c  {].  S.  ariji^.  f<t  Miss 
,^,j!«?t  T.  P/flf/f,  ^iiuglitcPorisar.uC. 
TJuU.or'f'H  town. 

On  Tursdriy  of  this  Week,  liv 
^•%pRev.  Mr:iral!<«".v,  Doet.fflH- 
'  "iitm  Ecam:2ont,  ordieU.  S.  ainty, 
V'IoMjs.  Deborah  Vlutt,  orthistuwn, 
^.  On  flif  16th  uUinio,  hy  (he  Rev. 
•  Mr.  H.ilspj,  Jeremiah  B.  liunkerf 
-of  (Ills  pincc,  to  Miss  Elixabelh 
>:'•'  Sbrilner,  Ji^^ekuiantown. 
V-  In  iliis  lown  on  Wcdntcflny  last, 
'*"!>}■  Si.  J.  B.  Ti.  fikiimer,  lOsqniie, 
>  Mr.  Elids  l)oty,  (o  Mrs.  .t/errt/ 
'    Gev'rge,  hoiU  of  this  <oNvn. 

V.  •  THE  K.VELL, 

*;V.r  DIED-^In  (his  (o\vii  on  Monday 

J>,ilic:20(h   tilt,   an    infatrt  eirild   .of 


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A   clipping    from   the   Plattsburgh   Republican,    September    1.    1S21.    announcing 
the  marriage  of  Dr.  Beaumont  to  Mrs.  Deborah  Piatt. 


Came  to  Buffalo,  entered  on  stage  boat  for  Albany,  $3.00:   paid  to  Cdgn. 
$4.50. 

16th.     Arrived   at   Canandaigua   9   ok.    P.   I\I.;    entered   for  Utica   4   ok. 
morng.     Stage  fare.  $5.50. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  at  Phittslmr^h  he  was  married  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Halsey,  and  returned  foithwitli  to  ^Mackinac  with  his  bride. 


1820-1822— Mrs.  Beaumont  99 

One  who  knew  Mrs,  Beaumont  well  at  this  period  of  her  life^* 
states  that  she  was  noted  for  her  rare  personal  beauty  and  irresist- 
ible charm  of  manner,  which  were  only  enhanced  by  her  gentle 
''thee  and  thou"  of  speech.  The  events  of  her  younger  years  had 
developed  in  her  courage  and  strength  of  endurance  almost  mascu- 
line, and  yet  withal  she  was  by  nature  a  delicate,  sensitive  feminine 
character.  She  was  peculiarly  prepared  for  the  adversities  and 
privations  of  this  new  life  in  the  wild  country.  The  proverbial 
Quaker  hospitality  and  her  splendid  ability  to  entertain  introduced 
a  new  and  much  needed  feature  into  the  garrison  life  of  this 
uncivilized  domain.  She  kept  open  house  for  her  husband's 
fellow-officers,  who,  far  from  home,  were  much  in  need  of  the 
leavening  influence  of  gentle,  refined  women  in  their  midst,  for,  as 
we  have  mentioned  before,  there  were  at  this  time  not  more  than  a 
dozen  white  women  on  the  entire  island.  They  established  their 
little  home  within  the  walls  of  the  old  fort,  and  in  due  time  a  child 
came  to  break  the  monotony  of  her  humdrum  existence  and  relieve 
the  feeling  of  homesickness  that  she  naturally  experienced  so  far 
from  her  family  ties  and  the  fertile  fields  and  placid  waters  of  the 
Champlain  home  that  she  loved  so  dearly.  A  few  months  after 
the  birth  of  their  little  daughter,  Sarah,  the  proud  father  wrote  the 
following  letter  to  "Grandparents  Green:" 

I  write,  my  dear  Parents,  in  filial  obedience  to  the  kind  dictates  of 
connubial  affection,  and  am  happy  in  doing  so,  because  I  think  I  am 
adding  a  mite  to  the  quantum  of  your  declining  enjoyments  and  earthly 
filicities  by  announcing  to  you  the  good  health,  happiness  and  content- 
ment of  your  fond  and  favorite  Debh.,  your  little  grand-son  Melanchton,i5 
and  grand-daughter  Sarah,  who  are  all  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  every 
necessary  blessing  of  human  life.  Debh.  has  occasional  periods  of  ten- 
der musings  upon  the  circumstance  of  being  so  far  and  so  long  separated 
from  her  aged  parents  and  affectionate  relatives  and  friends,  and  feels 
sad  and  sorrowful  at  the  time,  shedding  tears  of  gratitude  and  affection 
most  copiously;  but  it  is  only  the  impulse  of  a  moment,  and  she  is 
always  relieved  by  the  indulgence,  and  immediately  resumes  her  usual 
cheerfulness  and  vivacity,  and  returns  again  to  her  wonted  paths  of 
domestic  duties  and  maternal  cares,  superintending  her  household  and 
nurturing  and  caressing  the  children,  with  that  placid  benignity  of  coun- 
tenance   so    natural    to    her    temper    and    disposition    when    troubles    and 


"Mrs.  Elizabeth  Smith  Martin,  niece  of  Mrs.  Beaumont,  daughter  of  Colonel 
Melanehton  Smith  and  Anna  Greene  Smith. 

1=  Colonel  Melanehton  Smith,  whose  second  wife  was  Anna  Green,  the  sister 
of  Mrs.  Beaumont,  had  a  son  Melanehton,  born  in  ISIO.  by  his  first  marriage. 
At  this  time  he  was  13  years  of  age.  It  is  probable  that  he  came  to  live  with 
the  Beaumonts  at  Mackinac,  having  lost  his  parents. 


100 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiani  Beaumont 


vexations  are  far  away,  as  we  verily  hope  they  are,  and  with  them  a  long 
and  distant  flight.     She  is  troubled  occasionally  by  visits  from  her  old 
acquaintances,    pain-in-the-side,    and    experiences    some    slight    indisposi- 
tion, and  lately  has  some  qualms — not  of  conscience,  but  of  the  Stomach. 
Our  little  daughter  has  the  cheerfulness  and  vivacity  of  her  mother's 


Dr.   Beaumont  at  about  the  time   cf  his  marriage.    (From  a  .small  painting  on 
porcelain  in  posse.ssion  of  Mr.s.   Sarah  Beaumont  Keim.) 


disposition  fully  stampt  upon  her  by  nature,  and  is  continually  displaying 
them  to  the  delights  and  admiration  of  all  that  know  her.  "She's  blithe 
and  she's  bonny,  and  she's  dear  to  her  mamma,"  and  to  her  papa,  and 
would  be  to  her  Grand-parents  if  they  could  see  her,  no  doubt.  Little 
Melanchton  is  also  an  unusually  fine  and  interesting  boy.  He  is  the 
favorite  of  everybody,  and  is  almost  considered  as  a  prodigy  of  intelli- 


1820-1822 — Letter  to  Grandparents  Green 


101 


gence  and  sprightliness  for  one  of  his  age.  They  are  little  boon  play- 
mates, constantly  amusing  our  ears  through  the  day  with  their  cheerful 
little  prattle  and  infantile  gambols  about  the  house,  and  through  the 
night  lie  quietly  embraced  in  the  arms  of  "Nature's  Sweet  restorer," 
always  waking  in  the  morning  smiling  and  pleasant. 


Mrs.    Beaumont  at  about  the  time  of  her  marriage.     (From  a  small  painting 
on  iDorcelain  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Beaumont  Keim.) 


We  verily  hope,  and  partially  believe,  that  it  will  be  our  happy  fortune 
to  visit  you  with  our  little  family  in  the  course  of  a  year  or  two.  Your 
declining  years  and  our  anxiety  require  that  we  should  so  soon  as  is  pos- 
sibly consistant  with  my  official  situation. 

Our  best  love  to  all  the  family,  and  believe  me  your  affectionate  Son- 
in-law,  William  Beaumoxt. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

1822-1828. 

Early  in  the  month  of  Jinie,  1822.  Indians  and  voyageui'.s  were 
returning  to  ^Mackinac  with  the  results  of  their  winter's  catch. 
The  little  village  had  awakened  from  its  long  sleep,  and  the  beach 
was  again  crowded  with  tents  and  wigwams  and  a  seething  mass  of 
strange  humanity.  Ne^v  arrivals  of  canoes  and  bateaux  were 
being  heralded,  and  friends  who  had  been  stationed  far  apart  in 
the  wilds  of  the  North  were  familiarly  greeting  one  another.  Some 
were  pitching  tents  in  which  to  sleep  when  not  otherwise  engaged 
in  carousing;  newer  arrivals  were  unpacking  pelts,  watching  their 
appraisal  by  the  officers  of  the  fur  company,  and  eagerly  awaiting 
the  tig-ures  that  were  to  indicate  the  results  of  their  winter's  work; 
others,  whose  fate  had  already  been  decided,  were  engaged  in  games 
or  watching  the  fight  of  two  of  the  brigade  bullies  for  the  pro- 
verbial "black  feather;''  others  still  were  crowding  into  the  retail 
store  of  the  American  Fur  Company  in  an  effort  to  buy  buckskin 
coats,  moccasins,  tlannel  shirts,  and  gaudy  neck  bands.  It  was  in 
this  little  throng  that  a  tragedy  occurred  on  June  6th  which  was 
to  leave  its  imprint  on  the  pages  of  medical  history  for  all  time  to 
come.  A  gun  Avas  accidentally  discharged,  and  a  young  voyageur 
dropped  to  the  floor,  with  a  cavity  in  the  left  upper  abdomen  that 
would  have  admitted  a  man's  fist.  He  proved  to  be  a  young  French 
Canadian  about  19  years  of  age,  who  had  recently  come  down  from 
Montreal,  doubtless  Avith  one  of  the  expeditions  of  Mr.  ]MattheAvs. 

Gurdon  S.  HubbarcP  was  an  eye  witness  of  this  accident,  and  the 
only  one  Avho  has  left  any  statement  concerning  the  affair.  He 
says : 

The  late  Major  John  H.  Kinzie-  had  charge  of  the  American  Fur  Com- 


1  "Incidents  and  Events  in  tlie  Life  of  Gurdon  Saltonstall  Hubbard."  collected 
from  personal  narrations  and  other  sources,  and  arranged  by  his  nephew,  Henry 
E.  Hamilton,   1888. 

-Gurdon  S.  Hubbard  and  John  Kinzie  remained  lifelong  friends,  and  at  the 
time  of  their  death  were  anxong  the  most  piominent  citizens  in  the  city  of 
Chicago.  Chicago  was  incorporated  in  183.j.  with  Mr.  Hubbard  and  Mr.  Kinzie 
as  two  of  the  five  trustees.  Mr.  Hubbard  was  for  many  years  the  largest  pork 
packer  in  the  West,  director  of  the  Chicago  branch  of  the  State  Bank  of  Illinois, 
and  one  cf  the  organizers  of  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade.  The  firm  of  Hubbard 
&  Co.,  commission  merchants,  was  for  many  yeais  one  of  tlie  largest  in  the 
country,  and  established  the  Eagle  line  of  steamers  between  Buffalo  and  the 
Upper  Lakes.  After  the  formation  of  the  Republican  party  he  became  one  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  warmest  supporters  for  the  presidency.  (Biographical  Sketch.  Chi- 
cago Historical  Society,  1907.) 

102 


1822-1828— Accident  to  Alexis  St.  Wlartin  103 

pany's  retail  store  at  Michilimackinac.  I  was  in  the  tiabit  of  assisting 
him  occasionally  when  a  press  of  customers  needed  extra  clerks.  The 
store  comprised  the  ground  floor  near  the  foot  of  Fort  Hill,  on  the  corner 
of  the  street  and  the  road  leading  up  to  the  fort.  The  rear  part  of  the 
store  was  underground,  built  of  stone,  which  is  still  standing. 

This  St.  Martin  was  at  the  time  one  of  the  American  Fur  Company's 
engagees,  who,  with  quite  a  number  of  others,  was  in  the  store.  One  of 
the  party  was  holding  a  shotgun  (not  a  musket),  which  was  accidentally 
discharged,  the  whole  charge  entering  St.  Martin's  body.  The  muzzle 
was  not  over  three  feet  from  him — I  think  not  over  two.  The  wadding 
entered,  as  well  as  pieces  of  his  clothing;  his  shirt  took  fire;  he  fell,  as 
we  supposed,  dead. 

Dr.  Beaumont,  the  surgeon  of  the  fort,  was  immediately  sent  for,  and 
reached  the  wounded  man  within  a  very  short  time — probably  three  min- 
utes. We  had  just  got  him  on  a  cot  and  were  taking  off  some  of  his 
clothing. 

After  Dr.  Beaumont  had  extracted  part  of  the  shot,  pieces  of  clothing, 
and  dressed  his  wound  carefully,  Robert  Stewart  and  others  assisting, 
he  left  him,  remarking,  "The  man  can't  live  thirty-six  hours;  I  will  come 
to  see  him  by  and  by."  In  two  or  three  hours  he  visited  him  again, 
expressing  surprise  at  finding  him  doing  better  than  he  anticipated.  The 
next  day,  I  think,  he  resolved  on  a  course  of  treatment,  and  brought  down 
his  instruments,  getting  out  more  shot  and  clothing,  cutting  off  ragged 
ends  of  the  wound,  and  made  frequent  visits,  seeming  very  much  inter- 
ested, informing  Mr.  Stewart  in  my  presence  that  he  thought  he  could 
save  him. 

As  soon  as  the  man  could  be  moved  he  was  taken  to  the  fort  hospital, 
where  Dr.  Beaumont  could  give  him  better  attention.  About  this  time,  if 
I  am  not  greatly  mistaken,  the  doctor  announced  that  he  was  treating 
his  patient  with  a  view  to  experimenting  on  his  stomach,  being  satisfied 
of  his  recovery.     You  know  the  result. 

I  knew  Dr.  Beaumont  very  well.  The  experiment  of  introducing  food 
into  the  stomach  through  the  orifice,  purposely  kept  open  and  healed 
with  that  object,  was  conceived  by  the  doctor  very  soon  after  the  first 
examination. 

Beaumont's  own  version  of  the  accident  was  summed  up  in  the 
following  statement : 

Being  then  stationed  at  the  garrison  on  that  island,  and  no  citizen 
within  300  miles,  I  was  immediately  called  to  his  relief,  and  when  I  ar- 
rived at  this  place  15  or  20  minutes  after  the  accident  found  him  sense- 
less and  apparently  in  a  moribund  state.  To  endeavor  to  recuscitate  and 
relieve  his  sufferings  being  the  first  impulse,  I  applied  the  best  means  in 
my  power  and  took  the  responsibility  of  his  surgical  treatment  and 
medical  attendance.     .     .     . 

The  most   complete  description  of  the   wound   received   by   St. 


104 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 


1822-1828— Case  History  of  Si.  Martin 


105 


lOG 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Brauinonf 


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1822-1828— Description  of  the  ^Yound  107 

Martin,  the  treatment  and  progress  of  liis  case,  is  exhibited  in 
Beaumont's  hospital  records  and  bedside  notes,  extending  over  a 
period  of  two  years.  This  record  "was  fonnd  in  a  journal  of  various 
eases  under  his  observation  from  1822  to  1824  (see  page  104),  and 
bears  the  title,  ' '  Sundry  Cases  of  Practice — San  Martin,  St.  Andre, 
Sheridan,  etc.,  etc."  All  of  the  patients  received  the  same  careful 
consideration  as  did  St.  Martin.  St.  Andre's  case  was  one  of 
"great  swelling  of  his  belly,"  found  to  be  a  "confirmed  case  of 
ascites."  The  case  of  Sheridan  was  that  of  a  deserter  from  the 
post  of  Mackinac,  who  "got  lost  and  wandered  al)out  for  seven  days 
without  either  food,  .drink,  fire,  or  bed  clothes,  the  thermometer 
ranging  between  20  degrees  above  and  14  degrees  below  zero," 
while  the  case  of  St.  jMartin  was  to  him  at  this  time  simply  one  of 
"wounded  stomach."  calling  for  his  best  efforts  to  bring  about  a 
complete  cure. 

It  is  intersting  to  note  that  he  had  considerable  difficulty  in 
understanding  the  lad's  patois,  as  is  evidenced  by  various  attempts 
to  get  his  name  correctly.  The  record,  kept  over  a  period  of  two 
years,  is  a  model  of  thoroughness  and  completeness  that  would  be 
a  credit  to  our  modern-day  hospitals,  and  is  worthy  of  being  re- 
produced here  in  full : 

Alex  Samata,  St.  Martin,  San  INIaten,  a  Canadian  lad  about  19  j'ears 
old,3  hardy,  robust  and  healthy,  was  accidentally  shot  by  the  unlucky 
discharge  of  a  gun  on  the  6th  of  June,  1822.  The  whole  charge,  consist- 
ing of  powder  and  duck  shot,  was  received  in  the  left  side  at  not  more 
than  2  or  3  feet  distance  fi'om  the  muzzle  of  the  piece,  in  a  posterior 
direction,  obliquely  forward  and  outwards,  carrying  away  by  its  force 
the  integuments  more  than  the  size  of  the  palm  of  a  man's  hand;  blowing 
off  and  fracturing  the  6th  rib  from  about  the  middle  anteriorily,  fractur- 
ing the  5th,  Rupturing  the  lower  portion  of  the  left  lobe  of  the  Lungs,  and 
laceratiag  the  Stomach  by  a  spicula  of  the  rib  that  was  blown  through 
it[s]  coat,  Lodging  the  charge,  wadding,  fire  in  among  the  fractured  ribs 
and  lacerated  muscles  and  integuments,  and  burning  the  clothing  and  flesh 
to  a  crisp.  I  was  called  to  him  immediately  after  the  accident.  Found 
a  portion  of  the  Lungs  as  large  as  a  turkey's  egg  protruding  through  the 
external  wound,  lacerated  and  burnt,  and  below  this  another  protrusion 
resembling  a  portion  of  the  Stomach,  what  at  first  view  I  could  not  be- 
lieve possible  to  be  that  organ  in  that  situation  with  the  subject  surviv- 
ing, but  on  closer   examination   I  found   it  to  be   actually  the   Stomach, 


^According  to  the  statement  of  Rev.  Tslr.  Chicoine,  cure  of  St.  Thomas 
("William.  Beaumont,  a  Pioneer  American  Physiolog-lst."  Journal  America.)}  Medi- 
cal Association,  Xovember  15.  1902.  Osier),  St.  Martin  died  in  1880  at  S3  years  of 
age.  If  this  be  true,  he  was  born  in  1797,  and  must  have  been  2.5  years  old  when 
the  accident  occurred. 


108  Life  and  Lrffrrs  of  Dr.  WiUiatn  BcaioiKnif 

with  a  puncture  in  the  protruding  portion  large  enough  to  receive  my 
forefinger,  and  through  which  a  portion  of  his  food  that  he  had  talven  for 
breakfast  had  come  out  and  lodged  among  his  apparel.  In  this  dilemma 
I  considered  any  attempt  to  save  his  life  entirely  useless.  But  as  I  had 
ever  considered  it  a  duty  to  use  every  means  in  my  power  to  preserve 
life  when  called  to  administer  relief,  I  proceeded  to  cleanse  the  wound 
and  give  it  a  superficial  dressing,  not  believing  it  possible  for  him  to 
survive  tv/enty  minutes.  On  attempting  to  reduce  the  protruding  por- 
tions, I  found  the  Lung  was  prevented  from  returning  by  the  sharp  point 
of  the  fractured  rib,  over  which  its  membrane  had  caught  fast,  but  by 
raising  up  the  Lung  with  the  front  of  the  forefinger  of  my  left  hand  I 
clipped  off  with  my  penknife,  in  my  right  hand,  the  sharp  point  of  the 
rib,  which  enabled  me  to  return  the  Lung  into  the  cavity  of  the  Thorax, 
but  could  not  retain  it  there  on  the  least  efforts  of  the  patient  to  cough, 
which  were  frequent. 

After  giving  the  wound  a  superficial  dressing,  the  patient  was  moved 
to  a  more  convenient  place,  and  in  about  an  hour  I  attended  to  dressing 
the  wound  more  thoroughly,  not  supposing  it  probable  for  him  to  survive 
the  operation  of  extracting  the  fractured  spicula  of  bones  and  other  ex- 
traneous substances,  but  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  every  one  he  bore 
it  without  a  struggle  or  without  sinking. 

After  taking  away  the  fragments  of  the  ribs,  old  flannel,  wad  and  the 
principal  charge  of  shot,  all  driven  together  under  the  skin  and  into  the 
muscles,  and  replacing  the  lungs  and  stomach  as  much  as  practicable,  I 
applied  to  the  wound  the  carbonated  fermenting  poultice,  composed  of 
flour,  hot  water,  charcoal,  and  yeast,  changing  once  every  8,  10,  or  12 
hours,  according  to  the  quicker  or  slower  process  of  fermentation,  keep- 
ing the  parts  around  constantly  bathed  with  a  solution  of  muriate  of  am- 
monia in  Spirits  and  vinegar.  This  was  done  with  an  intention  to  excite 
local  reaction  as  soon  as  possible  upon  the  surface  and  occasional  slough- 
ing of  contused,  lacerated  and  burnt  muscles  and  integuments,  which  had 
the  desired  effect  in  less  than  84  hours,  with  assistance  of  the  Cam- 
phorated Aq.  Amon.  Acet.  given  internally  in  liberal  quantities.  Under 
the  above  treatment  a  lively  i-eaction  commenced  in  about  24  hours, 
accompanied  with  strong  arterial  action  and  high  inflammatory  symp- 
toms of  the  system  generally,  more  specially  of  violent  pneumonia  and 
inflammation  of  the  Lungs,  with  great  dyspnoea  and  distressing  cough. 
At  the  commencement  of  those  symptoms  I  opened  a  vein  and  took  12  or 
14  oz.  of  blood  from  the  arm.  Gave  a  mild  cathartic.  The  bleeding 
abated  the  action  and  gave  relief.  The  cathc.  had  no  effect,  having 
escaped  from  the  stomach  through  the  wound.  I  continued  the  Caphd. 
Aq.  Acetat.  every  hour  for  the  first  72  internally  and  the  carbonated 
poultice  and  wash  externally,  omitting  the  muriate.  The  fever  continued 
for  8  or  ten  days,  running  into  the  Typhoid  type  and  the  wound  becoming 
very  fetid  Nothing  passed  his  bowels  after  the  2d  day,  and  they  became 
impervious  and  inactive,  scarcely  to  be  excited  by  stimulating  injections. 
From  the  2d  day  till  the  10th  nothing  passed,  no  reaction  from  his  bowels 


1822-1828— Early  Treatment  of  the  Wound  109 

at  all,  everything  he  took  into  his  stomach  was  either  absorbed  or  made 
its  exit  at  the  wound  externally. 

About  the  5th  day  a  partial  sloughing  took  place  in  the  wound  and 
the  febrile  symptoms  abated.  The  protruded  portion  of  the  lungs  and 
the  small  lacerated  piece  of  the  stomach  also  sloughed  off,  and  left  the 
puncture  of  the  Stomach  plain  to  be  seen,  and  large  enough  to  admit  my 
forefinger  its  whole  length  directly  into  the  cavity  of  the  stomach,  and 
a  passage  into  the  cavity  of  the  Thorax  half  as  large  as  my  fist,  exposing 
to  plain  view  the  action  of  the  left  lobe  of  the  Lungs,  and  admitting  at 
every  respiration  full  escape  of  air,  bloody  mucus,  froth,  etc. 

About  the  10th  day  a  more  extensive  sloughing  took  place.  The 
febrile  symptoms  all  subsided,  and  the  whole  surface  of  the  wound  put 
on  a  healthy,  granulating  appearance.  The  fractures  of  the  ribs  com- 
menced exfoliating,  and  nature  kindly  performing  what  human  foresight 
viewed  as  hopeless  and  professional  skill  might  calculate  upon  with  dubious 
odds.  All  that  entered  his  stomach  came  out  again  at  the  wound  for  12 
or  15  days,  and  the  only  means  of  sustaining  him  was  by  nutritious  injec- 
tion given  per  anus  until  all  was  sloughed,  and  compresses  and  adhe- 
sive strap  could  be  applied  to  stop  the  orifice  in  the  stomach  and  retain 
the  food  and  drinks. 

A  lucky  and  perhaps  the  only  circumstance  to  which  his  miraculous 
survival  can  be  attributed  was  the  protruded  portion  of  the  Stomach, 
instead  of  falling  back  into  the  cavity  of  the  abdomen  to  its  natural 
position,  adhered  by  the  first  intention  to  the  intercostal  muscles,  and  by 
that  means  retained  the  orifice  in  the  wounded  stomach  in  contact  with 
the  external  wound,  and  afforded  a  free  passage  out  and  a  fair  opportu- 
nity to  apply  the  dressings.  The  carbon  poultice  was  continued  con- 
stantly until  the  sloughing  was  complete  and  the  granulating  process 
established.  They  were  afterwards  occasionally  applied  as  a  corrective 
when  the  wound  was  becoming  ill  conditioned  or  languid.  The  Aq.  Am. 
Acetat.  was  continued  for  several  weeks,  in  proportion  to  the  febrile 
symptoms  or  fetid  condition  of  the  wound. 

No  sickness  or  peculiar  irritability  of  the  Stomach  was  ever  experi- 
enced, not  even  nausea,  during  the  whole  time;  and  after  3  weeks  the 
appetite  regular  and  healthy,  alvine  evacuation  became  regular,  and  all 
the  functions  of  the  system  seemed  as  regular  and  healthy  as  in  perfect 
health,  excepting  the  wounded  parts. 

Cicatrization  and  contraction  of  the  external  wound  commenced  about 
the  5th  week,  and  continued  gradually  and  almost  uninterruptedly.  The 
Stomach  at  the  wounded  part  became  more  and  more  firmly  attached  to 
the  intercostals  by  its  external  coats,  but  showed  not  the  least  disposi- 
tion to  close  its  puncture  by  granulations  forming  from  its  own  lacerated 
coats  any  more  than  is  in  the  anus  or  mouth.  By  applying  the  nitrate  of 
silver  to  the  edges  of  the  wounded  muscles  of  the  stomach,  I  could  extend 
the  attachments  by  its  external  and  cellular  coats  more  firmly  to  the 
intercostals  or  external  integuments,  which  seemed  rather  to  enlarge 
than  contract  the  orifice  in  the  Stomach,  bringing  it  more  and  more  ex- 


110  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiam  Beainnont 

ternal  as  its  adhesions  to  the  external  wound  increased,  resembling  in  its 
appearance  (all  but  the  Sphincter)  a  natural  anus,  with  a  slight  prolapse 
every  time  I  removed  the  dressings,  and  the  contents  of  the  Stomach 
would  run  out  fairly  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  received.  If  the 
Stomach  happened  to  be  empty  when  I  dressed  it,  a  prolapse  and  partial 
invertion  of  the  Stomach  would  follow  the  removal  of  the  compresses  of 
lints  from  the  wound,  unless  prevented  by  the  application  of  my  thumb, 
finger,  or  something  else  to  its  orifice  while  the  dressing  was  reapplying. 
Frequently  upon  removing  the  dressings,  when  they  had  become  looser 
than  usual  by  some  derangement  of  the  bandages,  the  stomach  would  be 
inverted  and  the  inner  coats  protruded  through  the  orifice  large  as  a 
hen's  egg.  No  difficulty  occurred  in  reducing  it;  a  gentle  pressure  with 
the  thumb  or  finger  upon  the  protruded  portion  would  quickly  return  it 
to  its  place  w^ithout  giving  the  least  pain  and  almost  w'ithout  sensation. 
Nitrate  of  silver,  applied  to  the  lips  of  the  wound  and  upon  the  inner 
coats  of  the  Stomach  so  as  to  produce  sloughing,  occasioned  less  sensation 
than  when  applied  to  the  most  common  fungus  or  ulcer  upon  the  surface 
of  the  body  or  limbs,  a  conclusive  evidence  in  my  opinion  that  the 
Stomach  is  not  so  exquisitely  sensible  an  organ  as  is  represented  by 
anatomists  and  Physiologists  in  general. 

About  the  6th  or  7th  week  exfoliation  from  the  fractured  ribs  and  the 
separation  of  the  ribs  from  the  cartilagenous  ends  began  to  take  place; 
spiculae  of  bones  and  fragments  of  old  cloth  and  shot  also  were  working 
out  from  among  the  muscles  and  integuments.  The  6th  rib,  that  -was 
worst  injured  and  blown  off  entirely  in  the  first  place,  was  also  abraded 
of  its  periostium  for  about  three  inches  back  of  the  fracture  towards  the 
Spine  and  became  carious  at  its  fractured  extremity.  So  that  I  was 
obliged  to  amputate  it  about  midway  between  sternum  and  spine,  which 
I  did  by  dissecting  around,  separating  and  retracting  the  intercostals  to 
the  sound  portion  of  the  rib,  and  then  sawing  it  off  by  introducing  be- 
tween the  ribs  a  very  narrow,  short  saw,  which  I  had  made  for  the  occa- 
sion. In  this  operation  I  succeeded  admirably,  beyond  my  most  sanguine 
expectations,  taking  the  rib  off  smoothly  without  injuring  any  parts  what- 
ever. The  granulations  shot  immediately  out  and  formed  soundly  over 
the  amputated  end.  About  half  of  the  interior  edge  of  the  other  rib 
exfoliated  longitudinally  from  about  the  center  to  the  Sternum,  and 
then  the  healthy  granulation  formed  soundly  over  the  other  part  and 
continued  so. 

After  removing  all  the  exfoliations  and  extraneous  substances  that 
were  to  be  found  about  the  wound,  my  next  object  was  to  contract  the 
external  wound  and  close  up  the  ptmcture  in  the  stomach  if  practicable, 
which  I  attempted  by  drawing  the  edges  of  the  wound  as  near  together  as 
I  could  by  adhesive  straps  laid  on  in  radiative  form,  the  circumference 
of  the  external  w^ound  being  at  least  12  or  14  inches,  the  orifice  in  the 
Stomach  about  in  the  center.  To  retain  the  food  and  drink  as  much  as 
possible,  I  kept  to  the  orifice  a  firm  compress  of  lint,  fitted  to  the  shape 
and  size  of  the  puncture,  and  confined  by  the  straps.     Under  these  dress- 


1822-1828— Attempts  to  Close  the  Orifice  111 

ings  and  management  cicatrization  went  on  rapidly,  his  healtli  improv- 
ing, and  all  functions  of  the  system  regular.  Digestion  was  as  completely 
performed  as  in  the  most  healthy  person  in  the  vicinity  (and  I  could  even 
see  it  go  on  every  time  I  dressed  the  wound).  I  kept  the  granulating 
surface  duly  stimulated  by  applying  sometimes  Cincona  pulv.,  sometimes 
Mire,  precip.  Rub.,  and  sometimes  Nit.  Silver,  as  the  state  of  the  granu- 
lation indicated. 

After  trying  every  means  within  my  power  to  close  the  puncture  of 
the  Stomach  by  exciting  adhesions  between  the  lips  of  the  wound  of  its 
own  proper  coats,  without  the  least  appearance  of  success,  I  gave  over 
trying,  convinced  that  the  Stomach  of  itself  will  not  close  a  puncture  in 
its  coats  by  granulations,  and  the  only  alternative  left  seemed  to  be  to 
draw  the  external  wound  together  as  fast  as  cicatrization  would  form 
and  contracting  as  much  as  possible  the  orifice  in  the  Stomach,  and  make 
the  granulations  from  the  intercostal  muscles  and  integuments  shoot 
across  and  form  over  and  close  it  that  way.  But  to  this  method  there 
seemed  an  insuperable  difficulty,  for,  unless  there  be  kept  constantly 
upon  the  orifice  a  firm  plug  of  lint  compound,  all  the  contents  of  the 
Stomach  flow  out  and  the  patient  must  die  for  want  of  aliment,  and  this 
lint,  intersepting,  prevents  the  granulation  from  forming  across. 

The  lacerated  portion  of  the  lungs  sloughed  off  and  digested  away, 
leaving  a  surface  suppurating  in  the  lobe  of  the  lungs  large  as  the  con- 
cave surface  of  a  teacup,  from  which  continued  to  issue  much  pui'ulent 
matter  for  two  or  three  months  until  it  became  completely  filled  up  with 
healthy  granulations  and  cicatrized  over  externally,  with  the  lower  por- 
tion of  the  left  lobe  firmly  adhering  to  the  Pleura  costalis.  Four  months 
after  the  injury  an  abscess  formed  about  two  inches  below  the  v/ound, 
anteriorly,  over  the  cartilaginous  ends  of  the  1st  and  2d  false  ribs,  very 
painful  and  extremely  sore,  producing  a  violent  symptomatic  fever, 
checking  the  process  of  cicatrization,  rendering  the  granulation  languid 
and  pale,  and  the  wound  ill-conditioned  and  unfavorable  to  the  prospects 
of  recovery.  After  applying  emolient  poultices  for  several  days,  the 
swelling  pointed  externally,  and  I  punctured  and  laid  it  open  with  the 
bistoury  and  director  for  about  2  or  3  inches.  It  discharged  copiously 
very  fetid,  purulent  matter  for  the  first  2  days.  On  the  3d  I  could  feel 
with  the  probe  a  small  extraneous  substance,  which  in  the  course  of  3  or 
4  days,  by  the  use  of  the  soap  plaster  and  compresses,  proved  to  be  a 
shot  and  a  small  portion  of  tiie  wad.  After  the  exit  of  these  I  could 
introduce  a  common  pocket-case  silver  probe  nearly  its  whole  length  in 
the  longitudinal  direction  of  the  ribs,  and  a  great  soreness  and  pain  ex- 
tended from  the  opening  in  the  abscess  upon  the  track  of  the  cartilagi- 
nous ends  of  the  false  ribs  to  the  spine,  with  a  copious  discharge  from  a 
long  fistulous  sinus.  In  the  course  of  about  5  or  6  days  [appeared]  the 
cartilaginous  end  of  a.  rib  about  an  inch  long;  soon  after  this  followed 
some  small  spicula  of  bone.  The  discharge,  soreness  and  inflammation 
continued  in  the  same  direction.  In  about  6  or  7  days  longer  came  away 
another  similar  cartilage  about  an  inch  and  a  half  long,  and  in  about  the 


112  Life  and  Letters  of  Br.  ^ViUiam  Beaioiwnt 

same  length  ol:  time  another  2  inches,  and  so  continued  to  come  away 
every  5  or  6  days,  increasing  in  length  in  about  the  same  proportion 
until  five  had  made  their  exit  through  the  same  passage.  The  last  was 
about  three  inches  long,  and  seemed  to  be  separated  from  the  last  false 
rib,  as  the  soreness  terminated  at  that  point,  and  after  which  the  sinus 
commenced  closing,  the  discharge  diminished,  and  the  soreness  subsided 
from  that  point  forward  with  regular  progression.  The  discharge,  pain 
and  irritation  during  the  4  or  5  weeks  all  those  cartilages  were  working 
out  reduced  the  strength  of  the  patient  very  much,  induced  a  general 
febrile  habit,  and  stopped  the  healthy  healing  pi'ocess  of  the  original 
wound.  Directly  after  exit  of  the  last  mentioned  cartilage  an  inflam- 
mation appeared  at  the  lower  end  of  the  sternum,  about  over  the  ensiform 
cartilage,  from  the  anterior  end  of  the  original  wound,  extremely  irritable 
and  very  painful.  By  the  use  of  emolient  poultice  a  few  days  it  termi- 
nated in  a  large  abscess,  which  I  punctured  and  laid  open  an  inch  or  two 
with  the  bistoury.  About  half  a  pint  of  very  offensive  matter  discharged 
from  this,  and  in  a  few  days  followed  a  cartilaginous  substance  about 
3  inches  long,  after  which  the  inflammation  subsided.  In  a  day  or  two 
after  this  came  away  another  small  cartilage  and  the  discharge  abated. 
To  support  the  patient's  strength  under  all  these  debilitating  incidents, 
I  gave  him  the  diluted  muriatic  acid  and  wine,  which  very  much  improved 
his  health  and  increased  his  strength. 

It  is  now  going  on  the  7th  month  since  the  injury  was  received,  and 
the  orifice  in  the  stomach  is  still  visible  and  but  little  contracted.  The 
integuments  are  all  cicatrized,  smooth  to  within  the  circumference  of  a 
half  eagle,  immediately  around  the  wound  in  the  Stomach.  His  health 
daily  improving,  his  spirits  good,  his  appetite  regular,  his  sleep  refresh- 
ing, and  all  the  functions  of  the  system  natural  and  healthy. 

Dec.  2,  1822.  Can  the  puncture  of  the  Stomach  be  successfully  closed 
by  mechanical  means  until  the  granulations  have  time  to  form  over  and 
across  it? 

Dec.  3d.     Omitted  dressing  wound  myself,  though  dressed  by  the  nurse. 

Dec.  4th.  On  dressing  today  found  a  portion  of  the  new  cutis  vera  at 
the  anterior  extremity  of  the  cicatrix  raised  up  and  separated  from  the 
pectoral  muscle  by  the  matter  forced  back  from  the  sinus  above  in  conse- 
quence of  an  obstruction  in  its  usual  outlet.  On  puncturing  and  laying  it 
open  about  an  inch  and  a  half,  found  a  small  piece  of  cartilage  loose  and 
took  it  away  and  a  large  piece  which  seemed  to  be  separating  from  the 
Sternum. 

Dec.  5th.  Dressed  it  today.  Found  it  in  better  condition  than  yester- 
day.    Inflammation  and  soreness  subsiding,  discharge  less. 

Dec.  6th.     Dressed  today.     Still  doing  well. 

Dec.  7th.     Dressed.     Still  improving. 

Dec.  8th.     Dressed.     Still  improving. 

Dec.  9th.  Dressed.  Original  wound  diminishing,  sinuses  discharge 
less,  condition  better. 

Dec.  10th.     Dressed.     Condition  of  the  wound,  sinuses,  etc.,  improving. 


1822-1828— Attempts  to  Close  the  Orifice  113 

Keep  them  dressed  with  cincona  pulv.,  dry  lint  and  adhesive  straps,  bath- 
ing the  parts  around  with  camphorated  Spts.  and  water,  and  continue  the 
muriatic  acid. 

Dec.  11th.     Dressed.     Improving,  in  healthy  condition. 

Dec.  12th.  Dressed.  Sores  lessening  in  circumference  and  filling  up 
with  granulations.  All  healthy,  except  the  one  in  front  of  the  Sternum, 
which  seems  to  have  something  extraneous  behind  yet — a  piece  of  carti- 
lage no  doubt. 

Dec.  13th.  Dressed.  To  facilitate  the  closing  of  the  puncture  of  the 
stomach,  and  remove  the  impediments  to  the  granulations,  which  the  con- 
stant pressure  of  compresses  necessary  to  retain  the  food  in  the  Stomach 
from  day  to  day  cause,  I  made  fast  a  piece  of  lint  to  a  ligature,  just 
large  enough  to  pass  through  the  orifice  into  the  Stomach,  and  then  with 
the  end  of  the  probe  pushed  it  on  the  inside,  and,  suspended  by  the  liga- 
ture, drew  it  up  against  the  inside  of  orifice,  so  as  to  stop  the  food,  etc., 
from  flowing  out  upon  the  inner  side,  and  by  this  means  suffering  the 
granulations  from  the  edges  of  the  wound  to  contract  nearer  each  other 
around  the  small  ligature. 

Dec.  14th.     Dressed  in  the  same  manner  as  yesterday. 

Dec.  15th.  Dressed  as  yesterday,  excepting  the  introduction  of  a  small 
silver  canula  introduced  instead  of  the  ligature  and  lint. 

Dec.  16th.  Dressed  as  yesterday.  Find  the  canula  will  not  answer  the 
purpose  so  well  as  the  plug  of  lint  suspended  by  the  string. 

Dec.  17th.     Removed  the  canula  and  dressed  as  usual. 

Dec.  22d.  The  above  manner  of  dressing  continued  without  any  va- 
riation since  the  17th.  Continued  the  wash  around  the  wound  of  Cam- 
phorated Spirits,  water  and  vinegar,  injecting  frequently  into  the  sinuse? 
the  same  wash  more  diluted. 

Dec.  23d.     Added  to  the  Muriatic  acid,  diluted,  about  one-third  of  the 

tincture  of ,  to  be  taken  three  times  a  day  in  doses  of  a  half  teaspoon- 

ful.  The  discharge  still  purulent  and  healthy,  and  diminishing  in  quantity. 
The  orifice  in  the  Stomach  remaining  about  the  same  as  it  has  been  for 
3  months,  tho  the  wounds  of  the  muscles  continue  to  contract  and  are  fast 
cicatrizing  upon  the  Stomach.  The  food  still  makes  its  exit  whenever 
the  dressings  are  removed. 

Jany.  3d.  1823.  Dressed  every  day  since  the  23d  last  mo.,  condition 
continuing  nearly  the  same  until,  3  or  4  days,  an  inflammatory  redness 
appeared  around  the  lower  part  of  the  Sternum,  with  considerable  heat 
and  some  swelling,  and  today  appeared  another  cartilage,  which  I  took 
out — about  one  inch  and  a  half  long. 

Jan.  6th.  Swelling  and  inflammation  subsiding.  Took  away  at  the 
opening  of  the  sinus  another  cartilage  2  and  half  inch  in  length. 

Jan.  10th.  Since  extracting  the  last  cartilage  the  sinus  has  closed  and 
the  discharge  ceased,  excepting  a  very  little  from  the  sternal  end,  where 
some  small  pieces  of  diseased  cartilage  still  remain  undetached  and  keep 
up  a  small  discharge. 

Jan.  19th.     Small  piece  of  cartilage  came  from  the  ulcer  on  the  ster- 


114  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  Will  icon  Beemmejnt 

num;  other  sinuses  all  closed;  orifice  in  the  Stomach  about  the  same 
as  ever. 

Feb.  1st.  Dressed  every  day  since  last  date;  all  the  ulcers  and  sinuses 
closed  sound;  the  patient  in  perfect  health;  the  orifice  in  the  stomach  in 
Statu  quo. 

March  10th.  Dressed  daily  since  last  date;  much  in  same  condition; 
orifice  in  the  stomach  a  little  diminished. 

March  25th.  Dressed  daily  since  last  date;  no  alterative  in  condition; 
orifice  in  the  stomach  the  same. 


The  one-.stoi  y  frame  h()Si)ital  at  the  old  fort,  to  which  Alexis  wa.s  remo\-ed. 
and  where  he  lay  during  his  long  convalescence. 

Apl.  1st.  Dressed  daily;  continues  in  same  condition;  general  health 
good. 

May  30th.  Continued  daily  dressing  as  usual  since  last  date;  no  es- 
sential variation  in  the  wound ;  health  good  until  within  a  few  days  past. 
Having  complained  of  pain  in  the  head,  nausea,  a  cathartic  of  Rhei  and 
sulphur  administered,  it  is  presumed,  as  never  medicine  was  before  ad- 
ministered to  man  since  the  creation  of  the  world — to  wit,  by  pouring  it 
in  through  the  ribs  at  the  puncture  into  the  stomach.  I  administered  it 
in  the  form  of  dry  powder.  It  occasioned  a  slight  nausea  in  less  than  10 
minutes  and  operated  briskly  as  a  cathc.  in  less  than  two  hours. 

May  31si.  Feels  relieved  by  the  operation  of  the  medicine  given  yes- 
terday. Administered  in  the  same  manner  today  11  oz.  manna,  1  oz. 
magnesia. 


1822-1828 — Takes  Alexis  Into  His  Family  115 

The  County  refusing  any  further  assistance  to  the  patient  (who  has 
become  a  pauper  from  his  misfortune),  I  took  him  into  my  own  family 
from  mere  motives  of  charity  and  a  disposition  to  save  his  life,  or  at 
least  to  make  him  comfortable,  where  he  has  continued  improving  in 
health  and  condition,  and  is  now  able  to  perform  any  kind  of  labour 
from  the  whitling  of  a  stick  to  the  chopping  of  Logs,  and  is  as  healthy, 
active  and  strong  as  he  ever  was  in  his  life,  or  any  man  in  Mackinac, 
with  the  apperture  of  the  Stomach  in  much  the  same  condition  as  it  was 
at  the  last  mentioned  date.     June  1,  1824. 

In  a  memorandum  made  in  the  preparation  of  a  memorial  to 
Congress,  I  find  a  more  exhaustive  statement  concerning  the  atti- 
tude of  the  community  toward  poor  Alexis : 

Being  a  poor  boy,  v/ithout  relation  or  friends  at  the  time  of  the  acci- 
dent, he  became  a  pauper  upon  the  Town  and  County  of  Mackinac.  But 
their  charity  fund  being  small,  soon  became  exhausted,  and,  the  people 
not  being  able  to  raise  any  more,  he  was  left  entirely  destitute  of  every 
means  of  comfort,  and  even  of  a  place  to  rest  his  wounded  body  or  sus- 
tain his  suffering,  debilitated  nature,  and  in  this  helpless  condition  the 
Benevolent  authorities  of  the  Town  were  about  to  pack  him  off  in  an  open 
batteau  to  his  native  place,  Montreal,  L.  C,  a  distance  of  nearly  2,000 
miles.  Repeated  remonstrances  against  such  an  inhuman  disposal  of  a 
person  in  his  condition  being  of  no  avail  in  arresting  the  execution  of 
the  design,  and  knowing  that  his  life  must  inevitably  be  sacrificed  in  such 
an  attempt,  I  resolved  to  rescue  him  from  the  pending  misery  and  death. 
I  took  him  into  my  own  family  in  April,  1823,  at  a  time  when  he  was 
helpless,  sick  and  suffering  under  the  debilitating  effects  of  his  wounds, 
naked  and  destitude  of  everything,  but  pain,  a  little  "breath  of  life,"  and 
a  wounded  body.  In  this  condition  he  remained  with  me,  gradually  im- 
proving, for  a  year  or  two,  when  he  became  able  to  walk  about  and  help 
himself  a  little,  but  unable  to  provide  for  his  own  necessities.  During 
this  time  I  nursed  him,  fed  him,  clothed  him,  lodged  him  and  furnished 
him  with  every  comfort,  and  dressed  his  wounds  daily  and  for  the  most 
part  twice  a  day. 

Let  us  not  forget,  in  this  connection,  that  the  salary  of  an 
assistant  surgeon  at  this  period  was  the  munificent  sum  of  $40  a 
month  and  two  to  four  rations  daily,  and  that  Beaumont,  in  addi- 
tion to  supplying  out  of  this  sum  his  own  needs  and  those  of  Alexis, 
had  a  family  to  support. 

The  inhuman  attitude  of  the  citizens  of  Mackinac  on  this  occasion 
was  doubtless  responsible  for  the  sarcastic  soliloquy  on  Charity, 
which  appears  in  his  journal,  thou^gh  not  immediately  following  the 
case  of  St.  Martin.  It  was  his  custom,  in  fact,  to  jot  down  his 
ideas  wherever  and  whenever  they  occurred  to  him ;   not  infre- 


116  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

qiiently,  therefore,  we  find  kiudred  thoughts  widely  separated  from 
one  another,  the  relationship  remaining  none  the  less  certain. 

Charity. 

Happy  are  they  that  die  in  the  poor-house  of  this  place,  and  three 
times  doubly  happy  are  the  people  of  the  Borough  who  reluctantly  con- 
tribute to  their  wretched  support  while  living  upon  the  public  charity! 
Were  I  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  existing  upon  the  charity  of  this 
Borough,  I  would  commit  suicide  without  scruple  or  hesitation,  from 
principles  of  justice  to  poor  human  nature,  from  no  other  motive  than  to 
rescue  her  from  the  opprobrious  ignominy  of  suffering  a  fellow  being  to 
perish  in  distress  for  want  of  comfortable  and  timely  assistance!  It  is 
truth,  abhorent  to  human  nature  and  too  melancholy  to  be  recorded,  that, 
in  my  opinion,  the  public  officers  of  the  Borough,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
provide  relief  for  the  distressed,  would  sooner  pay  a  round  sum  for  the 
extinction  of  life  of  a  pauper  than  to  make  an  exertion  or  take  any  trou- 
ble to  procure  the  necessary  assistance. 

"May  the  Lord  deliver  us  from  evil,"  than  which  a  greater  could  never 
befall  a  human  being  than  to  become  dependent  upon  the  charity  and 
benevolence  of  the  people  for  relief  in  time  of  distress,  for  this  is  the 
Kingdom  of  Satan,  the  power  of  Tyrants,  the  Benevolence  of  Turkey  and 
the  Glory  of  Heathens!     Amen!  &  Amen! 

Xo  one  can  doubt,  after  a  careful  pernsal  of  St.  ^Nlai'tin's  case 
history,  that  every  possible  effort  was  made  to  close  the  wound 
completely,  and  that  ^Mr.  Hnbbard  was  laboring  under  a  misappre- 
hension when  he  stated  that  the  tract  was  purposely  kept  open  with 
a  view  to  conducting  experiments  upon  the  stomach.  Beaumont 
even  states  that,  when  all  other  means  failed,  he  suggested  incising 
the  lips  of  the  wound  and  "bringing  them  together  with  sutures, 
an  operation  to  winch  the  patient  would  not  submit.'' 

The  idea  of  carrying  on  a  series  of  experiments  on  the  stomach 
of  St.  ^Martin  seems  not  to  have  occurred  to  him  until  early  in 
1825,  just  prior  to  his  leaving  Mackinac.  lie  now  began  to  realize 
the  great  importance  of  the  case  that  had  so  strangely  fallen  into 
his  hands,  and  to  appreciate  the  duty  that  he  owed  to  humanity  as 
a  result  of  the  incident,  for  about  this  time  we  find  in  one  of  the 
manuscripts  devoted  to  a  description  of  the  case  the  following : 

He  will  drink  a  quart  of  water  or  eat  a  dish  of  soup,  and  then,  by  re- 
moving the  dressings  and  compress,  can  immediately  throw  it  out  through 
the  wound.  On  removing  the  dressings  I  frequently  find  the  stomach  in- 
verted to  the  size  and  about  the  shape  of  a  half  blown  rose,  yet  he  com- 
plains of  no  pain,  and  it  will  return  itself,  or  is  easily  reduced  by  gentle 
pressure. 


1822-1828 — Co7iceives  Idea  of  Experiments  117 

When  he  lies  on  the  opposite  side  I  can  look  directly  into  the  cavity 
of  the  Stomach,  and  almost  see  the  process  of  digestion.  I  can  pour  In 
water  with  a  funnel,  or  put  in  food  with  a  spoon,  and  draw  them  out 
again  with  a  syphon.  I  have  frequently  suspended  flesh,  raw  and  wasted, 
and  other  substances  into  the  perforation  to  ascertain  the  length  of  time 
required  to  digest  each;  and  at  one  time  used  a  tent  of  raw  beef,  instead 
of  lint,  to  stop  the  orifice,  and  found  that  in  less  than  five  hours  it  was 
completely  digested  off,  as  smooth  and  even  as  if  it  had  been  cut  with 
a  knife. 

It  now  begins  to  dawn  upon  him  that  an  nnusnal  opportunity  is 
offered  him,  and  he  comments  as  follows : 

This  case  affords  an  excellent  opportunity  for  experimenting  upon  the 
gastric  fluids  and  process  of  digestion.  It  would  give  no  pain,  nor  cause 
the  least  uneasiness,  to  extract  a  gill  of  fluid  every  two  or  three  days, 
for  it  frequently  flows  out  spontaneously  in  considerable  quantities. 
Various  kinds  of  digestible  substances  might  be  introduced  into  the  stom- 
ach, and  then  easily  examined  during  the  whole  process  of  digestion.  I 
may,  therefore,  be  able  hereafter  to  give  some  interesting  experiments  on 
these  subjects. 

During  all  this  time  Alexis'  had  not  been  a  bed  of  roses.  His  two 
years  of  convalescence  had  been  anything  but  uneventful,  and  now, 
that  he  had  practically  recovered  his  strength  and  usefulness,  his 
trials  were  not  at  an  end.  It  is  true  that  his  misfortune  had  made 
him.  famous  for  all  time  to  come,  that  his  name  was  being  heralded 
throughout  the  medical  world,  that  every  "Child's  Health  Primer," 
"Essentials  of  Physiology,"  and  "Elementary  History  of  the 
United  States"  were  to  contain  for  generations  an  account  of  his 
passive  contribution  to  science,  but  all  this  was  in  no  sense  adequate 
compensation  for  past  and  future  trials.  Now  he  would  have  to 
submit  to  having  all  manner  of  digestible  and  indigestible  objects 
poked  into  the  orifice  in  the  stomach,  would  have  to  fast  for  hours, 
lie  in  certain  positions  for  interminable  periods,  carry  small  bottles 
about  in  his  armpits,  and  all  this  for  the  sake  of  science,  in  which 
he  had  not  the  slighest  interest.  Not  only  this,  but  the  finger  of 
curiosity  was  being  pointed  at  him  from  every  side  as  "the  man 
with  a  lid  on  his  stomach."  It  is  said  that  he  was  often  provoked 
to  resent  the  jeers  in  hot  blood,  and  not  infrequently  made  threats 
to  the  Doctor  of  "giving  up  his  job."* 

Hon.  Chase  Osborn"  calls  attention  to  an  interesting  little  story 


*  "Early  Mackinac,"  by  Meade  C.  V^^illiams. 

^Mr.  Osborn  referred  to  this  story  in  his  address  at  the  dedication  of  the 
monumient  erected  to  Beaumont  at  Mackinac.  I  am  indebted  to  him  for  cour- 
tesies in  this  connection. 


118  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUia»i  Beaumont 

by  ]Mrs.  ]Mary  II  art  well  Catherwood,"  in  -which  she  describes  a 
conflict  between  Etienne  St.  Martin,  a  brother  of  Alexis,  also  in 
the  employ  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  and  Charle  Charette  in 
the  court  yard  of  the  old  warehouse  and  barracks.'  XAHiile  the 
fight  was  primarily  due  to  jealousies  aroused  by  the  fickleness  of 
Tite  Laboise,  the  wife  oi"  Charle,  and  her  inclination  to  dance  with 
Etienne  at  the  IMackinac  balls,  it  was  finally  precipitated  by 
Charle 's  sarcastic  reference  to  "these  St.  INIartins  without  stom- 
achs" and  "the  little  lard-eater  from  Canada,  brother  to  a  man 
with  a  stomach  having  no  lid."  Charle  was  the  wearer  of  the 
"black  feather"  in  his  brigade  of  a  dozen  boats,  and  had  no  trouble 
putting  the  little  voyageur  on  his  back  in  the  presence  of  a  crowd 
of  officers  and  employees  of  the  American  Fur  Company  that  had 
stopped  long  enough  to  watch  the  sport.  Etienne  had  at  least 
attempted  to  vindicate  his  family's  name,  and  arose  from  his 
humiliating  position  with  the  threat  that  "if  they  do  not  let  my 
brother's  stomach  alone,  I  will  have  to  kill  the  whole  brigade.'''* 

In  the  fall  of  1821  Beaumont  sent  a  complete  report  of  Alexis' 
ease  to  Surgeon-General  LovelT'  for  his  approval  and  correction, 
Vv'ith  the  suggestion  that  it  be  published  in  some  reputable  medical 
journal,  and  in  response  to  this  communication  received  the  follow- 
ing reply  from  the  surgeon-general  on  November  9th : 

I  have  received  your  letter  enclosing  your  valuable  communication  of 
the  case  of  wounded  stomach.  The  cure  is  a  full  demonstration  of  the 
wonderful  powers  of  nature  and  highly  creditable  to  yourself.  Agreeably 
to  your  suggestion,  I  shall  send  it  to  the  Medical  Recorder  for  publica- 
tion, altering  it  only  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  introduce  a  part  of 
your  letter  relative  to  the  present  state  of  your  patient. 

"  "Mackniac  and  Lake  Stories — The  Black  Feather."  by  Mrs.  Mary  Hartwell 
Catherwood. 

"The  John  Jacob  Astor  House  is  still  well  preserved  and  utilized  as  a  sum- 
mer hotel.  It  was  built  fcr  the  storing  of  furs  and  the  housirig  of  men  during 
the  summer  gatherings. 

*  I  was  uiiable  to  learn  through  correspondence  with  Miss  Hazel  Catlierwood 
whether  the  above  story  was  based  on  fact  or  fiction. 

"  i3r.  Joseph  Lovell  was  the  first  incumbent  of  the  high  ofRce  of  "surgeon- 
general."  which  was  tendered  him  in  1S18  in  recognition  of  his  skill  as  a  sur- 
geon and  his  splendid  qualifications  as  executive  and  organizer  while  hospital 
surgeon.  To  him  belongs  much  credit  for  the  excellent  foundation  upon  which 
the  present  high  efficiency  of  the  medical  corps  of  the  army  has  been  built.  In 
spite  of  the  efforts  of  Dr.  James  Tilton.  his  predecessor,  the  medical  service  was 
still  in  a  rather  chaotic  state,  and  Dr.  Lovell  at  once  set  to  work  to  reorganize 
the  corps  along  the  lines  of  its  present  organization.  Among  the  problems  that 
he  had  to  solve  were  the  system  of  admission  upon  examination,  the  question  of 
private  practice  on  the  part  of  military  surgeons,  their  choice  of  stations  and 
choice  of  quarters,  the  numerical  increase  of  the  corps,  the  abolition  of  the 
whisky  ration,  etc.  He  died  on  October  17.  1836,  shortly  after  the  death  of  his 
wife,  and  was  mourned  by  the  medical  corps  as  a  "fearless  and  diligent  officer, 
an  honest  and  highminded  gentleman,  and  an  unselfish  and  disinterested  phi- 
lanthropist."   (Journal  of  the  Association  of  Military  Surgeons,  vcl.  XIV,   No.  5.) 


1822-1828 — Reports  Case  to  Surgeon-General 


119 


I  will  endeavor  to  send  you  some  book  of  experiments  on  the  gastric 
liquor,  which  will  be  somewhat  of  a  guide  to  you  in  making  your  obser- 
vations, which  may  be  done  with  perfect  ease  and  safety.  It  is  stated, 
for  example,  that  if  several   articles   of  food  be  taken  into  the  stomach, 


Joseph  Lovell,  surgeon-general  of  the  United  States  army,  1818-36.     (Orighial 
painting  in  surgeon-general's  library,  Washington,  D.  C.) 

that  it  would  digest  all  of  one  kind  first,  then  all  of  a  second,  and  so  on, 
and  that  this  is  the  cause  of  the  bad  effects  of  a  variety  of  food  at  the 
same  meal.  Suppose  a  man  eat  beef,  potatoes,  fish,  cabbage,  and  pudding, 
it  is  expected  that  he  will  first  digest  all  the  beef,  the  others  in  the  mean- 


120  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^yUU<^ln  Beaumont 

time  remaining  untouched;  then  all  the  pudding,  then  all  the  potatoes, 
and  lastly  the  cabbage.  Now,  it  is  thought  if  he  eat  a  dozen  articles, 
by  the  time  the  stomach  has  disposed  of  eight  or  ten,  it  will  become  ex- 
hausted, and  the  rest  will  be  left  to  ferment  and  produce  indigestion  and 
its  consequent  evils.  Could  you  make  experiments  to  ascertain  this,  and 
also  the  digestibility  of  various  articles?  This  alone  would  afford  a  most 
valuable  paper  for  publication.  I  should  be  happy  to  receive  an  account 
of  any  experiments  or  observations  you  may  make,  and  they  will  no 
doubt  be  very  acceptable  to  the  public. 

The  article  did  appear  in  the  Meelical  Recorder^"  early  in  1825^ 
but  through  an  oversight  on  the  part  of  some  one  was  published 
as  "A  Case  of  Wounded  Stomach,  by  Joseph  Lovell.  Surgeon- 
General.  U,  S.  A,''  It  is  not  stated  how  the  error  occurred,  but 
toward  the  end  of  the  same  year  (Xo.  4.  page  8-iO)  this  correction 
was  inserted  in  the  journal : 

A  mistake  was  made  in  stating  that  the  case  of  wounded  stomach  pro- 
duced by  the  penetration  of  a  ball  was  communicated  by  Dr.  Lovell  for 
the  January  number  of  this  year.  It  should  have  been  mentioned  as 
reported  by  Dr.  William  Beaumont,  and  also  that  it  occurred  at  the  post 
of  Mackinac.  We  should  be  obliged  to  Dr.  B.  for  any  further  particulars, 
of  the  case,  which  was  considered  as  highly  interesting,  instructive  and 
well  drawn  tip. 

The  ^Medical  Society  of  Michigan  Territory  was  the  first  to  take 
recognition  of  Beaumont's  article,  making  him  an  honorary  member 
of  the  organization,  as  shoAvn  by  the  following  extract  from  the 
proceedings  of  that  organization  : 

Detroit,  March  3d,  1825, 
Doct.  WiUiam  Beanmont.  United  States  Army. 

Mich  iliynackinac. 
Sir:     It  is  with  much  pleasure  that  I  hereby  transmit  to  you  an  ex- 
tract from   the    minutes   of  the   Medical    Society  of   this   Territory,   at    a 
meeting  held  at  the  home  of  Capt.  Woodworth.  in  the  city  of  Detroit,  on 
Monday,  7th  ultimo: 

"Dr.  William  Beaumont,  of  the  United  States  Army,  duly  proposed  by 
Dr.  Pitcher,  and  unanimously  elected  by  Ballot  an  honorary  member  of 
this  Society." 

Whereupon  it  was  ordered  that  the  Secretary  be  directed  to  inform 
Dr.  Beaumont  of  his  election  as  aforesaid. 

I  remain,  Sir,  with  much  respect  your  most  ob.  Servant, 

John   S.  Whitixg, 
Secretary  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  Territory  of  Michigan. 


1*  "The  Medical  Recorder  of  Original  Papers  and  Intelligence  in  Medicine  and 
Surgery."  conducted  by  Samuel  Calhoun,  assisted  by  an  association  of  physicians 
in  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Baltimore,  and  Norfolk,  182.5,  vol.  Vin,  No.  1,  article 
III,  page  14. 


1822-1828— Transferred  to  Fort  Niagara  121 

Beaumont  now  began  to  feel  keenly  his  complete  isolation,  and 
realized  the  great  difficulties  that  confronted  him  in  conducting- 
experiments  under  the  conditions  which  prevailed  at  Mackinac. 
Not  only  had  he  no  facilities  for  research,  but  there  was  not  even 
a  physician  wathin  a  radius  of  many  hundred  miles  from  whom  he 
could  receive  suggestions,  or  with  whom  he  could  exchange  ideas — 
a  factor  of  no  little  importance  even  in  this  day  of  unlimited 
facilities  for  research.  He  felt  that  some  eastern  post  might  offer 
him  better  facilities  for  taking  advantage  of  the  rare  opportunity^ 
that  had  so  unexpectedly  fallen  to  his  lot,  and  in  all  probability 
requested  a  transfer  of  the  surgeon-general,  for  I  find  in  the  old 
files  of  the  surgeon-general's  office  an  order  of  February  2,  1825, 
to  this  effect:  "When  the  troops  at  Mackinac  shall  be  removed 
to  Green  Bay  .  .  .  you  will  be  ordered  to  Ft.  Niagara  to  the 
commanding  officer  for  duty  there."  On  May  10th,  however,  an- 
other order  came,  no  doubt  as  a  great  disappointment  to  him^ 
stating  that,  "as  the  order  for  the  removal  of  the  troops  from 
Mackinac  has  been  countermanded,  it  will,  of  course,  be  imprac- 
ticable for  you  to  leave  the  post  at  present."  Thereupon  he 
commenced  at  Mackinac  in  a  desultory  way  his  first  series  of  gastrie 
experiments,  but  a  solution  to  the  problem  of  a  transfer  was. 
evidently  soon  found  by  the  surgeon-general,  for  he  was  shortly 
ordered  to  Fort  Niagara,  and  in  June  we  find  him  actively  engaged 
in  the  hospital  there.  This  being  no  great  distance  from  Platts- 
burgh,  the  girlhood  home  of  his  wife,  Mrs.  Beaumont  and  the 
children"  went  on  to  that  place  to  await  future  developments. 

In  the  meantime  he  continued  to  prosecute  his  experiments  until 
the  month  of  August,  Avhen  they  came  to  a  sudden  termination 
through  a  most  unexpected  occurrence.  In  July  Beaumont  had 
requested  a  furlough  of  tAvo  months,  with  the  evident  intention  of 
first  visiting  his  family  at  Plattsburgh  and  then  exhibiting  St. 
Martin  to  some  of  the  prominent  scientists  of  that  day.  He  re- 
ceived a  communication  from  the  War  Department  July  22d. 
granting  a  furlough  for  two  months,  "provided  a  citizen  can  be 
obtained  to  attend  the  post  at  the  compensation  authorized  by  the 
army  regulation."  All  necessary  arrangements  were  completed, 
and  he  left  Niagara,  accompanied  by  Alexis,  stopping  first  at 
Burlington,  Vermont,  and  then  going  on  to  Plattsburgh.  They  had 
been  here  but  a  very  short  time,  when  the  close  proximity  of  the 

"Sarah,  aged  2  years,  and  William  W.,  aged  3  months. 


122  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

Canadian  border  and  the  scenes  of  his  hoyliood  proved  an  irresistible 
temptation  to  St.  ]\Iartin.  and  he  took  "French  leave"  of  his  bene- 
factor. This  possibility  seems  not  to  have  occurred  to  Beaumont, 
in  spite  of  his  knowledge  of  human  nature  in  general  and  the  wily 
ways  of  the  voyageur  in  particular.  Naturally  he  was  broken- 
hearted over  his  loss,  and  made  every  possible  etfort  to  learn  of  the 
whereabouts  of  his  truant,  but  at  the  expiration  of  his  furlough  he 
had  obtained  no  clew  concerning  him,  and  was  compelled  to  return 
to  his  duties  at  Niagara  broken  in  spirit,  but  seeking  consolation 
in  the  thought  that  his  protege  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  some 
one  better  fitted  than  himself  for  the  impoi-tant  work  of  clearing 
up  the  knotty  prol)le]ns  of  gastric  digestion. 

Undaunted  by  this  experience,  he  decided  to  give  to  the  world 
the  result  of  the  few  observations  that  he  had  been  able  to  make, 
and  sent  a  series  of  experiments  to  ~Sh\  AVebster,  publisher  of  the 
Medical  Recorder,  saying : 

Enclosed  I  send  you  the  result  of  a  few  experiments  carefully  made 
upon  the  gastric  fluids  of  the  Stomach  of  Alexis  St.  Martin,  the  circum- 
stances of  which  were  communicated  by  Dr.  Jos.  Lovell,  Surgeon  Genl. 
U.  S.  A.,  and  published  in  the  29th  number  of  the  Med.  Recorder  for  Jany.. 
182.5,  and,  if  you  think  them  worthy  to  be  published,  they  are  entirely  at 
your  disposal.  1- 

I  regret  very  much  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  offer  more  varied  and 
satisfactory  results,  but,  unfortunately  for  me  (the  fortunately  perhaps 
for  some  more  capable  person  than  myself  to  make  experiments),  he  has 
absconded  and  gone  to  Canada,  at  the  very  time  I  was  commencing  a 
number  of  more  interesting  and  important  experiments  upon  the  process 
of  digestion  and  power  of  the  gastric  liquors,  and  I  very  much  fear  I 
shall  not  be  able  to  recover  possession  of  him  again.  He  was  unwilling 
to  be  experimented  upon,  though  it  caused  him  but  little  pain  or  dis- 
tress. At  the  time  he  left  me  he  was  much  in  the  same  condition  as 
when  my  report  was  made  to  the  Surgn.  Genl.  in  Sept.,  1824.  and  by  him 
subsequently  communicated  to  you. 

.  N.  B. — I  have  other  interesting  cases,  of  some  practical  importance 
perhaps,  recorded  on  my  journal  of  practice,  which  I  should  have  no  ob- 
jections to  communicate  if  I  could  bring  myself  to  a  belief  that  they 
would  be  acceptable  and  well  reed,  by  the  public. 

This  series  of  experiments  numbered  four,  in  which  he  noted  the 
length  of  time  required  for  the  digestion  of  various  articles  of  food 
suspended  in  the  stomach  by  a  silk  string,  which  he  could  introduce 
and  withdraw  at  pleasure,  thus  noting  the  changes  in  these  sub- 


12  Published  in  the  Medical  Recorder,  January,  1826,  No.  33,  page  94. 


1822-1828 — First  Series  of  Experiments  123 

stances  from  time  to  time.  He  determined  '"the  natural  warmth 
of  tlie  stomach"  by  introducing  the  glass  portion  of  a  thermometer, 
marking  the  height  of  the  mercury  on  the  glass  and  then  placing 
it  on  the  graduated  scale.  He  compared  the  length  of  time  of 
digestion  of  certain  articles  in  the  stomach  and  in  vials  containing 
gastric  juice  at  the  body  temperature,  agitated  from  time  to  time 
to  imitate  the  gastric  peristalsis.  He  found  that  the  digestion  took 
place  more  rapidly  in  the  stomach  than  in  the  vial  after  the  first 
half  hour,  that  some  meats  digested  more  slowly  than  others  because 
the  texture  was  closer,  etc.  Even  these  incomplete  experiments 
assured  him  that  the  old  theories  of  maceration  and  putrefaction 
were  insufficient  to  explain  the  processes  that  he  had  observed,  and 
that  the  gastric  secretion  possessed  innate  solvent  powers. 

But  now  his  dreams  and  ambitions  of  aiding  in  the  solution  of 
the  important  problems  of  digestion  were  a  thing  of  the  past,  and 
his  whole  attention  was  again  claimed  by  the  routine  military 
duties  at  Fort  Niagara.  One  incident  especially  in  his  life  at  this 
frontier  post  is  well  worthy  of  careful  consideration. 

A  trial  by  court-martial,  which  took  place  at  this  time,  and  in 
which  Beaumont  figured  as  the  chief  wituess,  excited  general  in- 
terest in  army  circles,  and  especially  among  members  of  the  medical 
staff.  It  seems  that  on  the  morning  of  June  21,  1825.  Lieutenant 
Griswold  reported  himself  sick  and  was  bled  by  Dr.  Beaumont  and 
given  medicine,  with  the  result  that  he  recovered  promptly  from 
the  symptouLs  of  which  he  was  complaining.  He  returned  to  his 
post,  complaining  of  no  further  indisposition,  but  continued  to 
neglect  his  duties  at  the  expense  of  two  of  his  fellow-officers, 
Lieutenants  Eussell  and  ]\lorris.  Their  patience  was  finally  ex- 
hausted, and  they  complained  to  the  commanding  officer  on  July 
3d  of  Griswold 's  evasion  of  duty,  whereupon  he  was  informed  that 
he  must  either  do  his  duty  or  report  to  the  surgeon.  "' Reduced  to. 
this  dilemma.  Lieutenant  Griswold  had  but  two  alternatives  left — 
either  to  admit  the  imposition  and  go  on  duty,  or  successfully 
persevere  in  the  game  of  deception  he  had  been  playing:  too  will- 
fully obstinate  for  the  first,  and.  thinking  himself  capable  perhaps 
of  the  last,  he  renewed  his  efforts  and  made  an  unsuccessful 
attempt."  He  therefore  chose  to  return  to  the  surgeon,  com- 
plaining of  his  arm  where  he  had  been  bled.  Though  Beaumont 
could  find  nothing,  he  took  him  on  the  sick  list  with  a  view  to 
observing  him  carefully.     Griswold  then  began  complaining  of  all 


124  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

manner  of  "nondescript  sensations.""  Beaumont  made  numerous 
efforts  to  locate  a  cause  for  the  lieutenant  "s  complaints,  but.  not 
succeeding,  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was  a  malingerer.  In 
this  connection  he  wrote  : 

Resolved  never  to  be  made  the  tacit  medium  of  deception,  nor  the 
convenient  organ  of  ofiieial  falsehood,  I  determined  neither  to  let  the 
case  pass  unnoticed  or  waive  my  duty  of  making  a  correct  report  to  the 
commanding  officer.  Viewing  the  case  as  novel  and  unprecedented,  art- 
fully calculated  to  evade  proof  and  requiring  more  than  ordinary  means 
and  management  for  detection,  I  consulted  my  duty  to  government  and 
my  professional  character  only,  and  at  once  resolved  upon  the  course  to 
be  pursued,  fully  aware  of  the  delicacy  and  difficulties  of  deciding  judi- 
ciously upon  the  first  case  of  feigned  sickness  in  an  officer  that  had  ever 
occurred  within  the  sphere  of  my  official  duty.  .  .  .  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances and  impressions,  I  found  I  had  an  extremely  delicate  and  dis- 
agreeable duty  to  perform,  and,  to  demonstrate  the  correctness  of  my  be- 
lief and  enable  me  to  form  a  final  opinion,  I  resolved  to  prescribe  a  pow- 
erful dose  of  medicine  for  him,  in  the  effect  of  which,  if  taken  as  directed, 
there  could  be  no  mistake.  I  did  so.  Prepared  and  left  with  him,  with 
directions,  an  emetic-cathartic  of  15  or  20  grains  of  calomel  and  5  or  6 
grains  of  tartar  emetic.  Whether  he  took  the  medicine  as  directed,  I  am 
unable  to  say,  not  staying  to  administer  or  see  him  take  it.  I  visited  him 
at  his  quarters  frequently  in  the  course  of  the  day,  but  discovered  no 
effects  of  medicine  upon  him.  I  found  him  at  each  of  my  visits  during 
the  day  sitting  at  his  table  or  window,  reading  o^*  writing,  appearing  very 
comfortable  and  undisturbed.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  about 
3  or  4  o'clock,  just  after  a  shower,  while  the  atmosphere  was  yet  cloudy 
and  damp,  and  the  ground  wet,  I  saw  him  out  of  his  Quarters,  walking 
about  the  garrison,  with  no  other  protection  from  the  weather  than  his 
usual  apparel,  which  occasioned  me  to  remark,  "If  Mr.  Griswold  had  taken 
medicine  as  I  directed  him  that  morning,  he  would  have  swelled  jaws 
and  a  sore  mouth  for  his  imprudence."  I  visited  him  the  next  morning, 
saw^  no  appearance  of  the  operation  of  the  medicine,  neither  did  he  com- 
plain of  any  soreness  of  his  throat  or  mouth.  .  .  .  Being  fully  con- 
vinced from  the  preceding  circumstances  and  observations  that  he  was 
not  then  sick,  neither  had  been  since  the  25th  of  June,  I  immediately  left 
his  room,  without  making  any  suggestions  to  or  receiving  any  intima- 
tions from  him  of  his  ability  or  inability  to  do  his  duty,  and  without  any 
remarks  struck  him  off  my  report,  marked  him  fit  for  duty,  and  re- 
ported him  to  the  commanding  officer.  .  .  .  Having  conscientiously 
discharged  my  duty  to  government  and  Lieutenant  Griswold  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  8th  of  July,  I  had  no  more  to  do  with  his  official  conduct. 
Whether  he  went  to  the  office  and  saw  or  was  informed  of  my  report,  or, 
judging  from  my  last  visit,  that  his  situation  was  not  tenable  with  im- 
punity, is  best  known  to  himself.  Sufficient  be  it  for  the  occasion,  he 
resumed   his    salutiferous    faculties,    dressed    himself,   and   went   on   duty 


1822-1828 — ^^'itness  in  Court-Ma riial  Proceedings         125 

immediately  after  I  had  sent  in  my  morning  report,  and  never  after,  while 
at  this  post,  exhibited  the  least  indisposition  to  my  knowledge  or  belief 
until  the  time  of  his  trial. 

Griswold  was  placed  under  arrest,  tried  by  court-martial,  and 
found  guilty,  "to  be  dismissed  from  the  service."  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  the  very  officers  who  had  complained  of  his  shirking  his 
duties,  and  who  knew  all  of  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  came 
to  the  rescue  of  their  comi'ade  finally,  and  endeavored  to  give  him 
immunity  through  favorable  evidence.  The  sentence  of  the  court- 
martial  was  disapproved  by  President  Adams,  and  was  reversed 
by  the  "Old  Man  Eloquent"  in  General  Order  Xo.  9,  issued  Feb- 
ruary 18.  1826.^^  The  president,  in  submitting  his  disapproval, 
stated : 

It  is  at  least  very  questionable  whether  the  finding  of  the  Court  is 
warranted  by  the  evidence  in  the  face  of  the  record.  With  regard  to  the 
only  charges  which,  even  if  proved,  could  justify  the  severity  of  the 
Court's  final  sentence — namely,  the  third  and  fourth — the  evidence  before 
the  Court  was  contradictory.  Two  unimpeached  witnesses  testify  to 
facts  which,  if  credited,  show  that  the  unfitness  for  duty  by  indisposition 
of  Lieutenant  Griswold  at  the  time  specified  in  the  charges  was  real  and 
not  pretended.  The  facts  are  indeed  otherwise  stated  by  Assistant- 
Surgeon  Beaumont,  but  the  finding  of  the  accused  guilty  by  the  Court  on 
these  charges  appears  to  rest  more  upon  the  professional  opinion  of  the 
surgeon  than  upon  his  statement  of  facts,  shalien  as  that  must  be  by  the 
testimony  of  Lieutenant  Russell  and  Lieutenant  Morris. 

The  testimony  of  Brevet-Major  Thompson  and  that  of  Assistant-Sur- 
geon Beaumont  both  bear  internal  marks  of  excited  feelings,  impairing 
their  credibility.  The  former  was  properly  excluded  by  the  Court  from 
acting  as  prosecutor  for  misconduct  pending  the  trial,  and  Surgeon  Beau- 
mont states  an  experiment  as  having  been  made  by  himself  upon  Lieu- 
tenant Griswold  of  more  than  doubtful  propriety  in  the  relations  of  a 
medical  adviser  to  his  patient.  A  medicine  of  violent  operation,  admin- 
istered by  a  physician  to  a  man  whom  he  believes  to  be  in  full  health, 
iDUt  who  is  taking  his  professional  advice,  is  a  very  improper  test  of  the 
sincerity  of  the  patient's  complaints,  and  the  avowal  of  it  as  of  a  trans- 
action justifiable  in  itself  discloses  a  mind  warped  by  ill-will,  or  insens- 
ible to  its  own  relative  duties. 

It  is  needless  to  describe  the  effect  of  these  strictures  on  the 
sensibilities  of  Dr.  Beaumont.  Pride  and  honor  were  two  of  his 
chief  qualifications  and  his  constant  boast.  Through  this  sweeping 
order  of  the  highest  tribunal  of  the  land  he  felt  that  both  had  been 


13  Files  of  the  War  Department  at  Washington,  room  2.54.     By  courtesy  of  the 
adjutant-general. 


126  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WilUenii  BeeiiDiiont 

leveled  in  the  dust.  His  duty  was  clear,  and  he  determined  at 
once  on  his  coiu-se  of  action  in  the  matter.  He  first  made  a  number 
of  applications  to  the  president  for  a  court  of  inquiry  to  determine 
whether  the  facts  in  the  case  justified  the  president  in  such  treat- 
ment as  he  had  meted  out  to  him.  but.  not  suceeeding  in  this, 
prepared  a  public  reply  to  the  "president's  animadversions." 
evidently  without  the  slightest  regard  for  the  results  that  it  might 
have  on  his  future  career.  AMien  certain  that  he  was  in  the  right, 
no  thought  of  self  ever  deterred  him  from  giving  expression  to  his 
opinion,  no  matter  how  lofty  the  position  of  him  who  had  given 
offense.  The  following  note.  yelloAv  Avith  age,  was  found  in  the 
files  of  the  AVar  Department : 

Eight  weeks  have  elapsed,  and  my  repeated  applications  for  a  court 
of  inquiry  not  yet  noticed  by  the  proper  authority,  I  consider  farther 
delay  injustice  to  my  own  character,  and  am  most  imperiously  required, 
by  every  principle  of  honour  and  feeling  of  manliness,  to  give  circulation 
to  the  following  statement  coextensively  with  the  president's  animadver- 
sions upon  my  conduct,  as  promulgated  in  his  order  of  February  18.  1826, 
with  a  view  to  correct  erroneous  impressions  and  remove  any  undue 
prejudice  that  may  have  existed  in  consequence  of  said  order. 

The  statement.  Avhich  follows  in  part,  was  issued  at  Fort  Niagara. 
New  York.  May  8,  1826.  in  the  form  of  a  circular"  of  about  four 
thousand  words,  and  was  executed  with  all  the  fearlessness  and 
courage  of  one  convinced  that  he  was  pleading  in  the  cause  of 
justice. 

Considering  my  official  reputation  and  moral  character  egregiously 
and  unjustly  assailed  under  General  Order  of  February  18,  1826,  and 
believing  the  Heads  of  Departments  to  have  been  imposed  upon  by  mis- 
representations and  total  perversions  of  truth,  I  consider  it  due  to  my- 
self and  the  Government,  and  demanded  by  justice,  to  give  an  explana- 
tion, with  a  view  to  correct  the  abuse  and  expose  the  imposition. 

Silence  under  such  circumstances  would  be  cowardice,  and  submission 
meanness  indeed,  suffering  falsehood  and  error  to  preponderate  over  truth 
and  correctness,  to  the  total  subversion  of  good  order  and  correct  dis- 
cipline, and  entire  destruction  of  military  pride  and  laudable  ambition. 

In  submitting  the  following  statements,  I  am  governed  by  the  inflex- 
ible principles  of  truth,  incited  by  a  lively  sense  of  self-respect,  the  good 
of  the  service  and  regard  for  the  Medical  Department,  disavowing  any 
other  feeling  of  prejudice,  excitement  or  ill-will  than  those  inseparably 
connected  with  just  abhorrence  of  falsehood,  dissimulation  and  roguery. 

Equal  rights  in  a  free  Government  are  due  to  all:  justice  in  a  Military 


i*  Files  of  the  AVar  Department  at  AA'ashington.   room  2.'i4. 


1822-1828 — Criticises  President  Adams'  Action  127 

Department  is  at  the  disposal  of  a  few.  The  first  is  my  birthright  as  an 
American,  the  last  is  due  me  as  an  officer  of  the  Army  upon  the  common 
principles  of  honor  and  rectitude.  I  claim  them  both  upon  the  fair  and 
equitable  grounds  that  every  man  (military  in  particular)  is  entitled  to  a 
candid  hearing  and  careful  investigation  before  being  censured  or  con- 
demned for  supposed  offences  and  misconduct.  I  applied  for  a  Court  of 
Inquiry,  on  the  receipt  of  the  Order,  to  investigate  my  conduct.  Eight 
weeks  have  elapsed,  and  I  am  without  an  answer.  My  feelings  are  not 
callous;  I  have  yet  sense  of  honor  sufficient  not  to  rest  easy  under  the 
imputation  of  baseness  and  discredit;  neither  is  my  mind  so  warped  by 
ill-will,  or  so  insensible  to  its  own  dignity,  as  to  seek  sly  and  silent 
revenge  for  its  satisfaction.  My  reputation  is  dear  to  me;  the  wide 
spreading  influence  of  that  Order  cannot  be  anticipated  with  indifference. 

I  ask  a  candid  and  patient  perusal  of  this  statement,  every  part  of 
which  I  will  substantiate  if  an  opportunity  be  afforded  me.  Single  and 
unsupported,  save  by  truth  and  conscious  rectitude,  I  ask  but  to  be 
heard — then  judged  by  the  merits  of  the  case.  I  seek  not  the  aid  of 
whining  sympathy  or  boisterous  advocates.  I  offer  no  borrowed  docu- 
mental influence  to  support  my  cause;  by  the  merits  or  demerits  of  my 
own  conduct  I  wish  to  rise  or  fall  in  the  estimation  of  Government  and 
the  Heads  of  Departments. 

It  is  presumed  the  Officers  of  the  Army  generally  have  seen  and  read 
the  President's  remarks  under  General  Order  No.  9  for  1826,  in  which 
my  testimony  before  a  Court  Martial  for  the  trial  of  Lt.  E.  B.  Griswold 
is  severely  censured,  my  character  for  truth  and  candor  impeached,  and 
my  Disposition  and  Professional  judgment  implicated.  Whether  the  in- 
ferences drawn  from  the  face  of  the  records  of  the  Court  be  correct  and 
warranted  by  the  evidence  thereon  exhibited,  I  presume  not  to  offer  an 
opinion,  but  that  the  final  conclusions  are  as  unjust  as  they  are  severe, 
I  am  able  and  ready  to  substantiate. 

The  character  of  the  Court,  the  nature  of  the  charges,  the  universal 
findings,  and  corresponding  sentence  of  that  Court  are  sufficient  justifi- 
cations of  my  conduct,  and  ample  protection  to  my  character  from  gen- 
eral censure.     .     .     . 

Whether  the  plan  adopted,  either  in  a  moral  or  professional  point  of 
view,  be  justifiable  or  not,  I  leave  for  medical  men  and  candid  judges 
to  decide.  It  was  salutary,  and  had  the  intended  effect  of  returning 
Lt.  Griswold  to  his  duty  without  prejudice  to  his  health  or  constitution; 
neither  is  it  of  very  great  moment  with  me  whether  a  successful  experi- 
ment be  of  less  or  more  than  doubtful  propriety  that  speedily  restores  a 
soldier  from  the  sick  report  to  the  effective  service  of  the  government, 
be  he  private,  non  com.  or  commissioned  officer;  neither  do  I  think  it 
of  very  great  consequence  whether  it  be  done  secundum  artem,  secundum 
naturam,  or  terrorem,  provided  it  be  well  done. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  here  to  remark  that,  so  far  from  having  admin- 
istered a  medicine  of  violent  operation  to  a  man  whom  I  then  believed 
(and  have  ever  since)   to  be  in  full  health,  I  neither  required  Lt.  Gris- 


128  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiJJiam  Beaumont 

wold  to  take,  believed  he  did  take  or  had  any  intention  of  taking  the 
medicine  left  with  him,  but,  on  the  contrary,  believed  he  studied  to  de- 
ceive by  pretending  to  have  taken  it  and  then  representing  its  effects. 
It  was  impossible  to  prove  he  did  not  feel  those  strange,  indescribable 
sensations,  but  I  know  he  could  not  disguise  the  effects  of  the  medicine 
if  taken.  With  this  view  I  prescribed  the  calomel  and  emetic  tar- 
tar.    .     .     . 

And  no  consideration  can  ever  warp  my  mind  from  its  fixed  principles 
of  acting  honestly  and  independently  in  the  discharge  of  its  relative 
duties.  Should  I  again,  an  hundred  times,  be  placed  in  a  similar  situa- 
tion, I  would  do  as  in  this  case  I  have  done;  fearless  of  censure,  "re- 
proach, or  temporary  discredit,  regarding  far  more  the  sanctity  of  an 
oath  than  either  the  applause  or  disapprobation  of  the  highest  earthly 
tribunal,  considering  Integrity,  Faithfulness,  and  Fidelity  to  my  God,  my 
Conscience  and  my  Country  paramount  to  every  other  consideration. 

My  testimony  was  confined  to  facts  that  transpired  between  the  2d 
and  9th  of  July,  and  no  other;  was  made  upon  the  firm  basis  of  truth, 
accurately  identified  with  time  and  circumstances  mentioned  in  the  3d 
and  4th  charges,  with  a  perfect  recollection  of  facts,  corroborated  by  the 
Morning  Reports  of  the  Garrison,  needing  not  the  aid  of  fortuitous  events 
and  equivocal  memory  to  substantiate  it.     .     .     . 

Treacherous  indeed  must  have  been  their  memories  who  could  not  have 
readily  distinguished  between  the  healthful  enjoyments  and  festive  asso- 
ciations of  a  convivial  scene  on  the  4th  of  July  and  the  more  grave  and 
sober  acts  of  sympathetic  kindness  bestowed  upon  a  friend  on  the  22d 
and  23d  of  June,  and  still  more  truant  and  pitiable  his  recollection  who, 
after  having  officially  complained  of  specific  grievances  and  impositions 
on  3d  of  July,  should  forget  that  time  and  the  occurrence  of  the  very 
cause  which  induced  him  to  make  that  complaint — viz..  Lt.  Griswold's 
evasion  of  duty  between  the  26th  and  30th  of  June. 

Yet,  from  the  strangely  defective  recollection  and  extraordinary  ex- 
traneous testimony,  made  to  preponderate  (tho  it  did  not  even  refer  to 
the  facts  or  time  specified  in  said  charges),  my  professional  opinion  was 
shaken,  my  conduct  as  a  witness  and  my  disposition  as  a  medical  adviser 
severely  animadverted  upon  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  by 
whose  Veto  and  a  few  waves  of  his  pen  the  sentence  of  an  honourable 
Court-Martial  is  made  void,  and  my  reputation  stigmatized  throughout 
the  army,  without  prospects  of  extenuation  or  retrieve,  but  by  the  aid 
of  lenient  charity,  or  through  the  more  honorable  medium  of  official 
reconsideration.     I  have  respectfully  claimed  the  last. 

His  verbose  circular  evidently  received  the  scant  consideration  on 
the  part  of  the  chief  executive  that  he  anticipated  it  would. ^^  but 
it  served  to  convey  his  ideas  on  the  subject  to  his  friends  in  the 
army  and  operated  as  a  safety  valve   for  his  pent-up   feelings. 


15 It  is  interesting  to  note  that,   in  spite  of  this  episode,  Beaumont  was  com- 
missioned "surgeon"  by  President  Adams  on  November  28,   1826. 


1822-1828— Ordered  to  Fort  Howard  129 

Shortly  after  this  episode  he  received  orders  "to  be  in  readiness 
to  accompany  the  troops  from  Sacketts  Harbor  and  Niagara  to 
Green  Bay,  and  to  have  all  medical  supplies  under  his  charge 
carefully  packed  for  transportation."  He  replied  that  he  would 
be  in  readiness  at  the  appointed  time,  and  requested  permission  "to 
prescribe  for  the  citizens  of  Green  Bay  whenever  necessity  required 
it,  they  being  entirely  dependent  upon  army  surgeons  for  medical 
aid  and  assistance."  AAHiile  there  was  a  paragraph  in  the  army 
regulations  at  this  time  forbidding  medical  officers  of  the  corps  to 
engage  in  private  practice,  permission  was  usually  granted  post 
surgeons  on  application  to  render  professional  aid  to  citizens  under 
such  conditions  as  those  which  prevailed  at  Green  Bay.  This 
regulation  had  been  in  existence  since  1814,  but  Avas  not  en- 
forced until  Lovell  was  made  surgeon-general.  He  afterward 
explained,  in  response  to  Surgeon  McMahon's  inquiry,  that  the 
enforcement  of  this  regulation  was  not  intended  to  prevent  acts  of 
humanity  on  the  part  of  surgeons,  but  simply  "to  prevent  neglect 
of  duty  by  entering  extremely  into  it  [private  practice],  as  well  as 
an  improper  application  of  public  property,  which  often  occurred." 
Beaumont's  detachment  soon^*'  got  under  way,  and  arrived  at  Fort 
Howard  early  in  June.  On  the  18th  of  this  month  he  wrote  to 
Washington:  "Due  regard  for  the  comforts  of  the  sick  placed 
under  my  charge  requires  that  a  timely  representation  of  their 
destitute  condition  be  made,  with  a  view  to  its  future  amelioration." 
He  found  the  hospital  department  "entirely  destitute  of  every 
means  of  comfort,  save  medicine,"  and  asked  that  the  hospital 
equipment  at  Sacketts  Harbor  be  transferred  to  Green  Bay,  which 
was  promptly  granted. 

The  life  at  Green  Bay,  Michigan  Territory,  was  not  new  to  him, 
for  much  the  same  conditions  prevailed  here  as  at  IMackinac; — even 
the  same  traditions.  The  place  was  founded  in  1634  by  Jean 
Nicollet  when  he  was  sent  out  by  Champlain  to  discover  a  short 
route  to  China.  Marquette,  Joliet,  Allouez,  and  Tonti  had  played 
important  roles  here  as  they  had  at  Mackinac.  At  the  close  of  the 
French  and  Indian  war  the  settlement  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
English,  and  so  remained  until  after  the  War  of  1812.  The  fur 
companies  for  many  decades  had  branch  houses  at  La  Baye  Verte, 


"His  last  communication  from  Niagara  to  tlie  War  Department  is  under  the 
date  of  May  8,  1826.  He  evidently  left  his  family  to  follow  later,  for  I  find 
recorded  in  the  family  Bible  the  death  of  his  little  son,  William,  at  Plattsburgh 
on  October  14,  1826. 


130  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^XiUi(nn  Beaumont 

as  it  ^vas  called  by  the  French,  aud  the  brigades  sent  out  in  the 
fall  from  Mackinac  to  the  Mississippi  country  passed  here  and  filled 
the  air  with  chansons  of  the  voyageur.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
War  of  1812  Colonel  Dickson  came  here,  after  aiding  in  the  capture 
of  I\Iackinac.  with  his  Indian  allies,  among  whom  was  the  famous 
chief  Black  Hawk.  This  point  was  the  center  of  an  Indian  country 
of  many  tribes — the  Menominees,  Winnebagoes,  Foxes,  Chippewas, 
Sauks,  and  others — and  in  the  immediate  vicinity  were  more  than 
3,000  savages  and  as  many  more  belonging  to  the  adjoining  tribes. 
When  peace  Avas  declared  with  England  and  Americans  took  pos- 
session, these  savages  were  in  an  ugly  mood  as  the  result  of  their 
great  losses  from  the  war — their  crops  had  failed,  they  had  lost 
their  cattle,  and  the  fur  trade  had  been  destroyed.  They  were 
prepared  to  lay  all  of  the  blame  at  the  door  of  their  new  masters. 
There  was  scant  chance,  therefore,  of  maintaining  peace  among 
them  under  such  conditions.  In  view  of  the  ugly  mood  of  the 
Indians  and  the  importance  of  Green  Bay  as  a  trading  center,  it 
was  deemed  advisable  to  place  a  garrison  at  this  point,  and  in  1816 
Fort  Howard  was  built  just  across  the  river,  together  with  a 
government  trading  post  and  an  Indian  agency.  The  fort  was 
inclosed  in  a  stockade  of  timber  thirty  feet  high,  inclosing  the  usual 
type  of  barracks,  block-houses,  and  officers'  quarters,  except  those 
of  the  surgeon  and  quartermaster,  which  were  built  outside  of  the 
inclosure.  ]\Iany  years  elapsed  before  the  Indians  could  be  recon- 
ciled to  their  new  condition,  and  many  acts  of  violence  were 
committed  by  them.  On  one  occasion  the  post  surgeon.  W.  S. 
Madison,  was  ambushed  and  killed  by  a  Chippewa  Indian.  In  1825 
Lewis  Cass,  governor  of  Michigan  Territory,  succeeded  in  making 
at  Prairie  du  Chien  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Sioux,  Sauks, 
Chippewas,  Foxes,  AYinnebagoes,  and  ]\[enominees,  but  within  a 
year  the  treaty  had  been  broken,  and  the  Winnebagoes,  who 
throughout  had  been  more  or  less  discontented,  had  found  a  casus 
ielli. 

Upon  Beaumont's  arrival  here  there  were  already  undercurrents 
and  mutterings  of  an  Indian  outbreak.  The  fomentation  continued 
until  the  spring  of  1827,  Avhen  the  tribe  began  committing  outrages 
on  the  whites,  and  found  sufficient  courage  to  wipe  out  a  family  of 
seven.  With  this  taste  of  blood.  Chief  Red  Bird  and  his  warriors 
started  on  the  war  path.  Detachments  of  soldiers  were  promptly 
sent  out  from  Forts  Crawford,  Snelling,  and  Howard,  while  Cover- 


1822-1828 — Winne'hago  Indian    ^Yar  131 

nor  Cass  liimself  proceeded  to  St.  Louis  to  obtain  aid  from  Jefferson 
Barracks.  With  this  array  of  troops  practically  surrounding  the 
savages,  they  soon  realized  the  futility  of  further  opposition,  and 
Red  Bird  and  his  band  made  a  dramatic  surrender  to  Major 
Whistler's  forces,  to  which  Beaumont  was  attached.  The  Indian 
chief  approached,  carrying  a  flag  of  truce,  singing  his  death  knell, 
and  casting  a  handful  of  dust  over  his  shoulder  to  indicate  that  he 
gave  up  his  life  as  freely.  His  only  request  was  that  he  and  his 
braves  should  not  be  put  in  chains.  He  was  taken  prisoner  and 
sent  to  Prairie  du  Cliicn,  where  he  died  later.  Two  of  his  accom- 
plices were  condemned  to  be  hung,  but  were  pardoned  by  President 
Adams.  This  put  an  end,  for  a  time  at  least,  to  Indian  outrages 
in  this  section. 

On  returning  to  the  fort  from  the  interesting  scenes  that  he  had 
just  witnessed,  Beaumont  entered  into  correspondence^'  with  Dr. 
Lovell  concerning  the  question  of  vaccine  and  vaccination,  which 
from  an  historical  standpoint  should  be  of  some  interest.  On 
September  18,  1827,  he  wrote  : 

Sense  of  duty  and  common  benevolence  urge  me  most  respectfully  to 
request  a  fresh  supply  of  vaccine  infection  to  be  forwarded  to  this  post 
as  soon  as  practicable.  Accident  alone  has  deprived  me  at  this  time  of 
any  efficient  matter.  The  importance  as  well  as  necessity  of  having  it  on 
hand  in  a  country  like  this,  subject  at  all  times  to  the  incursion  of  the 
smallpox  from  the  continual  passing  and  repassing  of  wandering  Indians 
and  Canadian  voyageurs,  will  doubtless  be  duly  appreciated.  I  verily 
hope  that  some  fresh  and  genuine  Infection  be  forthcoming  immediately, 
so  as  to  reach  me  before  the  close  of  the  fall  navigation  of  the  lakes. 

To  this  the  surgeon-general  responded  on  October  5th:  "Agree- 
ably to  your  request,  I  herewith  inclose  jon  a  crust  of  vaccine  virus, 
the  only  one  on  hand,  and  in  a  few  days  another  supply  will  be 
forwarded."  On  January  31,  1828,  Beaumont  acknowledged  the 
receipt  of  these  packages,  saying: 

I  have  the  honour  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  two  communica- 
tions, containing  each  a  Vaccine  crust — the  one  dated  October  25th  this 
day,  and  that  of  Novem.  3d  on  the  11th  instant,  per  express  Via  Chicago. 
I  am  apprehensive  that,  from  some  cause  or  other,  the  virus  is  all  de- 
stroyed, inasmuch  as  immediately  upon  receiving  the  first  package  (which, 
by  the  by,  was  the  last  forwarded  from  the  Department)  I  vaccinated 
a  number  of  young  and  healthy  subjects,  none  of  which  took  effect.  I  re- 
peated it  several  times,  with  the  same  result;  no  appearance  of  the  dis- 
ease could  be  produced  by  it. 


1' Files  in  surg-eon-general's  office. 


132  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^ViUiam  Beaumont 

I  have  this  day  vaccinated  several  with  the  last  received  (first  for- 
warded), but  do  not  expect  any  effects  from  it.  Does  frost  destroy  the 
virus?  If  so,  it  must  have  been  destroyed  in  coming  from  Detroit  to 
this  place  by  express,  the  weather  being  extremely  cold.  And  as  it  will  be 
impossible  to  send  any  to  this  Post  in  the  winter  season,  therefore  I  re- 
spectfully request  that  some  more  may  be  forwarded  soon  as  the  season 
will  permit,  so  as  to  arrive  here  by  the  first  vessel  from  Detroit  in  the 
spring.is 

Fearing'  tliat  the  vaccine  was  not  being  properly  administered. 
Dr.  Lovell  sent  another  crust,  with  directions  for  using:  "The 
introduction  of  a  small  portion  of  crust  softened  with  a  little  warm 
water,  after  allowing  the  puncture  to  bleed  pretty  freely,  has  been 
found  most  effectual  in  securing  success;  or  making  half  a  dozen 
pretty  deep  incisions  with  the  edge  of  the  lancet  and  crossing  them 
in  the  same  way.  thus  [indicating  the  customary  cross  incisions], 
and  covering  them  well  with  the  matter. ' ' 

About  this  same  time  glad  tidings  came  concerning  the  where- 
abouts of  the  truant  Alexis.  Practically  two  years  had  elapsed 
since  he  took  his  unceremonious  departure,  and  from  that  time 
nothing  had  been  heard  of  his  whereabouts.  Soon  after  his  dis- 
appearance, Dr.  Beaumont  communicated  with  his  friends  in  the 
employ  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  urging  them  to  be  constantly 
on  the  outlook  for  St.  IMartin,  and  to  report  to  him  immediately  on 
learning  his  rendezvous.  AV.  "W.  Matthews,  whose  annual  duty  it 
was  to  go  into  the  interior  of  Canada  for  the  purpose  of  employing 
voyageure,  had  just  returned  to  ^Mackinac  from  such  an  expedition, 
and  wrote  Dr.  Beaumont : 

While  in  Canada  last  winter  I  succeeded  in  finding  your  ungrateful 
boy,  Alexis  St.  Martin.  He  is  married,  and  lives  about  twelve  miles  back 
from  Berthier  at  a  place  called  LaChalaupe.  He  is  poor  and  miserable 
beyond  description,  and  his  wound  is  worse  than  when  he  left  you.  The 
distance  from  Montreal  to  where  he  lives  is  fifty-seven  miles.  I  did  all  I 
could  to  bring  him  up,  but  could  not  succeed,  but  my  endeavors  cost  me 
$14.  I  will  be  obliged  if  you  will  let  me  know  by  return  of  boat  w^hether 
I  shall  do  anything  more  to  get  him  back,  and  how  I  shall  get  my  money 
back,  as  the  company  will  not  allow  it  to  me. 


"During  the  winter  months  Green  Bay  was  practically  cut  off  from  the  world. 
Mail  was  delivered  from  Detroit  by  a  soldier  only  twice  in  six  months.  It  is  said 
that  a  private  route  was  established  between  Fort  Howard  and  Fort  Wayne,  a 
distance  of  three  hundred  miles,  after  which  mail  was  delivered  about  once  a 
month.  Moses  Hardwick,  a  sturdy  frontiersman,  carried  the  mail  from  Detroit 
to  Green  Bay  from  1817  to  1824,  and  each  time,  especially  in  the  winter,  was 
compelled  to  fight  his  way  through  packs  of  wolves,  burdened  with  mail  pouch 
and  loaded  musket.     ("Historic  Green  Bay.") 


1822-1828— Ordered  to  Fort  Crawford  133 

The  money  was  evidently  promptly  sent  to  Mr.  Matthews,  to- 
gether with  an  authorization  to  get  hold  of  St.  Martin  if  possible, 
for  a  few  days  later  another  letter  came : 

I  received  your  favor  of  the  15th  inst.,  inclosing  $14,  the  amount  of  my 
disbursements  in  finding  Alexis  St.  Martin.  There  will  be  no  difficulty 
in  getting  him  back  at  any  reasonable  price,  providing  you  will  employ 
his  wife  (!)  also.  He  is  miserably  poor,  and  will  remain  so  while  he 
lives  unless  he  comes  back  to  you.  I  think  you  had  better  write  to  me  in 
New  York,  requesting  me  to  engage  Alexis  and  his  wife  to  come  up  and 
remain  with  you  one  or  two  years.  I  will  bring  them  up  to  Mackinac  in 
the  company's  boats,  and  charge  as  low  as  possible.  Dr.  Caldwell  saw  him 
when  he  was  in  [Canada?]  last,  and  wishes  very  much  to  get  him  to 
remain  with  him. 

While  this  news  encouraged  Dr.  Beaumont  to  hope  that  he  might 
again  have  Alexis  with  him  for  the  purpose  of  conducting  further 
experiments,  much  time  elapsed  before  any  more  information  was 
forthcoming.  In  the  meantime  he  received  orders  to  join  the  Fifth 
Regiment  at  Fort  Crawford,  also  in  Michigan  Territory.  He  left 
Fort  Howard  with  some  reluctance,  for  he  had  formed  many  friend- 
ships in  the  garrison  and  in  the  little  village  across  the  river.  In 
after  years  he  paid  several  visits  to  G-reen  Bay  to  look  after  property 
which  he  owned,  and  to  visit  relatives  whom  he  had  induced  to  come 
here.^^  It  is  said  that  many  years  after  he  took  his  departure  from 
this  post  the  old  French  settlers  were  proud  to  recall  the  days  of 
intimate  relationship  with  "Le  bon  doc-teur  who  mak'  de  mer- 
a-cle."  His  good  wife,  too,  through  her  domestic  and  social  ten- 
dencies, had  made  herself  much  beloved  among  both  citizens  and 
soldiers,  and  her  house  was  the  rendezvous  of  those  who  sought  the 
best  and  highest  in  the  social  life  of  the  military  post.  It  is  said 
that  she  was  fond  of  such  modern  classics  as  Scott,  Cooper,  Irving, 
and  Byron,  and  that  her  greatest  delight  was  to  read  Shakespeare 
to  her  little  family  group  and  a  circle  of  intimate  friends  while 
they  busied  themselves  with  needle  and  thread.  Her  renditions  of 
the  author's  plays  were  of  rare  excellence,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that, 
Quaker-like,  she  had  never  entered  a  theater.  Such  Avere  their 
congenial  surroundings  when  the  Beaumont  family  left  Fort 
Howard.  On  August  10,  1826,  he  reported  their  arrival  at  the  new 
post  on  the  upper  jNIississippi.-" 


1^  Quite  a  colony  of  Plattsburgh  people  emigrated  to  Green  Bay  in  1S34. 
-°  A  daughter,  Lucretia,  wa.s  born  at  Fort  Howard  on  July  26,  1827. 


CHAPTER  YU. 

1828-1833. 

Almost  two  years  had  elapsed  since  receiving  the  news  of  Alexis' 
whereabouts  from  ^Ir.  ^Matthews,  and  in  the  meantime  the  officers 
of  the  fnr  compan^y  had  been  making  every  possible  effort  to  bring 
him  l)aek  to  liis  l)enefactor.  They  were  unremitting  in  their  zeal 
to  see  him  again  serving  the  man  to  whom  he  owed  so  much,  and 
toward  whom  he  had  proven  himself  so  ungrateful.  Without  the 
efforts  of  Ramsay  Crooks,  W.  W.  Matthews,  and  William  Morrison, 
St.  Martin's  case  would  have  been  lost  to  science.  To  them,  there- 
fore, belongs  much  credit,  which,  so  far  as  I  know,  has  never  been 
accorded  them,  except  by  Beaumont  himself,  for  this  important 
chapter  in  the  history  of  physiology  of  digestion. 

During  Alexis'  absence  of  four  years  he  had  married  and  had  be- 
come the  father  of  two  eliildren.  He  had  worked  hard  to  support 
his  family  as  a  voyageur  in  the  employ  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Fur  Com- 
pany, and  was  sent  by  them  into  the  Indian  country  of  Canada, 
where  he  suffered  many  privations.  In  spite  of  all  this,  he  had 
remained  robust  and  well.  Dr.  Beaumont's  comment  on  Alexis' 
condition  at  this  time  was  as  follows: 

After  considerable  difficulty,  and  at  great  expense  to  me,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  engaging  him  and  transported  him  from  lower  Canada,  with, 
his  wife  and  two  children,  to  me  at  Fort  Crawford,  Prairie  du  Chien,  Up- 
per Mississippi,  a  distance  of  nearly  two  thousand  miles,  in  August,  1829. 
His  stomach  and  side  were  in  a  similar  condition  as  when  he  left  me  in 
1825.    The  aperture  was  open  and  his  health  good. 

He  now  entered  my  service,  and  I  commenced  another  series  of  ex- 
periments on  the  stomach  and  gastric  fluids,  and  continued  them  inter- 
ruptedly until  March,  1831.  During  this  time,  in  the  intervals  of  experi- 
menting, he  performed  all  the  duties  of  a  common  servant,  chopping 
wood,  carrying  burthens,  etc.,  with  little  or  no  suffering  or  inconvenience 
from  his  wound.  He  laboured  constantly,  became  the  father  of  more  chil- 
dren, and  enjoyed  as  good  health  and  as  much  vigour  as  men  in  general. 
He  subsisted  on  crude  food  in  abundant  quantities,  except  when  on  pre- 
scribed diet  for  particular  experimental  purposes  and  under  special  ob- 
servance. 

Beaumont  states  elsewhere  that  he  gave  him  at  this  time  "800 
livres  annually,  clothed  and  subsisted  him  and  his  family." 

134 


1828-1833 — Recovers  His  Truant  Alexis  135 

Now  that  his  dream  was  again  realized,  Dr.  Beaumont  lost  no 
time  in  beginning  anew  his  experiments  on  the  stomach  of  St. 
Martin.  With  no  laboratory  equipment  but  a  thermometer,  a  few 
open-mouth  vials,  and  a  sand  bath,  he  conducted  at  this  isolated 
military  post  a  series  of  observations  on  digestion  which  have  not 
been  excelled  even  under  more  favorable  conditions  and  surround- 
ings. How  exact  these  observations  were  can  best  be  determined 
by  an  examination  of  his  manuscript.  From  a  comparison  of  his 
old  manuscript  and  notes  with  his  publication,  one  finds  that  these 
investigations  were  made  "in  the  true  spirit  of  enquiry,"  without 
any  "particular  hypothesis  to  support,"  and  that  he  "honestly 
recorded  the  result  of  each  experiment  exactly  as  it  occurred." 
Between  December  6,  1829,  and  xVpril  9,  1831,  there  were  recorded 
fifty-six  experiments.  He  took  up  the  train  of  thought  just  Avhere 
he  had  left  ofi^  four  years  before,  with  a  series  "to  ascertain  the 
variation  in  temperature  in  the  interior  of  the  stomach  under  differ- 
ent circumstances  and  conditions  of  the  system  and  vicissitudes  of 
the  atmosphere. ' '  Eight  experiments  were  recorded  by  him  on  this 
particular  point,  of  which  No.  1  is  a  fair  example : 

Dec.  6,  1829.  At  9  o'clock,  A.  M.,  I  introduced  the  glass  tube  of  a 
Thermometer  (Fahrenheit's)  through  the  artificial  opening  into  the 
stomach,  in  a  healthy  and  empty  condition,  nearly  the  whole  length  of 
the  stem.  In  six  or  eight  minutes  the  mercury  became  stationary  at  98°. 
Weather  cloudy,  damp,  and  almost  raining;  ground  wet,  muddy  and 
thawing.  Wind  S.  and  mild.  Thermometer,  in  a  North  exposure,  63°.  Com- 
menced raining  at  11  o'clock,  A.  M,  and  continued  all  day,  with  op- 
pressive atmosphere. 

He  concluded  from  this  series  that  "the  variations  of  the  atmos- 
phere produce  effects  on  the  temperature  of  the  stomach,  a  dry 
atmosphere  increasing  and  a  humid  one  diminishing  it ;  that  the 
ordinary  temperature  of  the  stomach  is  about  100°  F. ;  that  there 
is  probably  some  difference  of  temperature  in  different  regions  of 
the  stomach,  it  being  higher  at  the  pyloric  than  at  the  splenic  end." 
Two  of  these  experiments  showed  that  the  heat  of  the  stomach  was 
increased  during  the  active  period  of  digestion,  but  subsequent 
ones  showed  the  temperature  to  be  the  same  in  its  full  and  empty 
state. 

He  now  started  out  "to  ascertain  whether  the  gastric  juice  began 
accumulating  in  the  stomach  during  periods  of  fasting,  or  even 


136  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

from  the  immediate  or  direct  influence  of  hunger."     There  were 
fourteen  of  these  experiments,  of  which  No.  12  is  an  average : 

March  13,  1830.  At  10  o'clock,  A.  M.,  stomach  empty,  introduced  tube, 
but  was  unable  to  obtain  any  gastric  juice.  On  the  application  of  a  few 
crumbs  of  bread  to  the  inner  surface  of  the  stomach,  the  juice  began 
slowly  to  accumulate  and  flow  through  the  tube.  The  crumbs  of  bread 
adhered  to  the  mucous  coat,  soon  became  soft,  and  began  to  dissolve  and 
digest.  On  viewing  the  villous  membrane  before  applying  the  bread 
crumbs,  the  mucous  coat  and  subjacent  follicles  only  could  be  obsei'ved; 
but  immediately  afterwards  small,  sharp  papillae  and  minute  lucid  points, 
situated  in  the  interstices  of  and  less  than  the  mucous  follicles,  became 
visible,  from  which  exuded  a  clear,  transparent  liquor.  It  then  began  to 
run  through  the  tube. 

These  observations  led  him  to  the  conclusion  that  "the  stomach 
contains  no  gastric  juice  in  the  free  state  where  aliment  is  not 
present,"  that  "any  digestible  or  irritating  substances,  when  ap- 
plied to  the  internal  coat,  excites  the  action  of  the  gastric  vessels," 
that  "even  the  application  of  the  tube  used  in  withdrawing  the 
fluid  was  sufficient  to  excite  its  flow. "  He  took  issue  wdth  those  who 
maintained  that  the  gastric  juice  was  discharged  into  the  stomach 
during  a  fast.  The  result  of  one  of  these  experiments  caused  him 
to  believe  that  "in  febrile  diathesis  very  little  or  no  gastric  juice 
is  secreted,"  and  that  for  this  reason  food  should  be  withheld  in 
febrile  complaints. 

The  majority  of  his  subsequent  investigations  "wei'e  instituted 
with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  relative  difference  between  natural 
and  artificial  digestion ;  to  demonstrate  the  performance  of  digestion 
out  of  the  stomach  with  the  gastric  juice,  and  also  the  continuation 
of  the  natural  process  when  taken  out  during  the  period  of  chymi- 
fication,"  as  indicated,  for  example,  in  the  following  experiment. 
No.  24 : 

Dec.  14,  1829.  At  1  o'clock,  P.  M.,  I  took  one  and  a  half  ounces  of 
gastric  juice  fresh  from  the  stomach,  after  eighteen  hours'  fasting,  into 
an  open  mouthed  vial,  put  into  it  twelve  drachms  recently  salted  beef 
(boiled),  and  placed  it  in  a  basin  of  water  on  a  sand  bath,  and  kept  it  at 
about  100'^  (Fahrenheit),  with  frequent  gentle  agitation.  Digestion  com- 
menced in  a  short  time  on  the  surface  of  the  meat,  and  progressed  in  that 
manner  uniformly  for  about  six  hours,  when  its  solvent  action  seemed  to 
cease.  The  meat  was  at  this  time  nearly  half  dissolved;  the  texture  of  the 
central  portion  considerably  loosened  and  tender,  resembling  the  same 
kind  of  aliment  when  ejected,  partly  digested,  from  the  stomach  hours 
after  being  swallowed,  as  frequently  seen  in  cases  of  indigestion. 


1828-1833 — Second  Series  of  Experiments  137 

The  vial  continuing  in  the  same  situation,  its  contents  varied  consid- 
erable in  their  sensible  qualities  in  twenty-four  hours ;  the  digested  portion 
separated  into  a  reddish  brown  precipitate  and  whey-coloured  fluid. 

I  now  separated  the  undigested  from  the  chymous  portion  by  filtration 
through  thin  muslin.  When  squeezed  dry,  it  weighed  five  drachms,  two 
scruples,  and  eight  grains,  which,  deducted  from  the  twelve  drachms  of 
meat  put  in  at  first,  leaves  six  drachms  and  twelve  grains  digested  in 
twelve  fluid-drachms  of  gastric  juice. 

This  experiment  was  conducted  with  as  much  precision  and  integrity  of 
observation  as  possible,  with  the  temperature  of  the  digesting  bath  kept 
as  near  blood  heat  as  was  practicable  to  regulate  and  continue  artificial 
warmth,  the  Thermometer  varying  during  the  time  from  90°  to  100°. 

T\"liile  "it  took  twelve  drachms  of  gastric  juice  to  digest  six 
drachms  and  twelve  grains  of  aliment,"  he  felt  that  no  definite 
conclusion  should  be  drawn  from  this  experiment  on  account  of  the 
great  variation  in  the  secretion  under  different  circumstances.  He 
expresses  the  opinion  "that  different  kinds  of  diet  require  different 
proportions  of  gastric  juice  for  their  solution. ' ' 

In  experiment  Xo.  25  he  found  "that  a  quantity  of  aliment  taken 
out  of  the  stomach  twenty  minutes  after  having  been  eaten  had  a 
sufficient  amount  of  gastric  juice  to  insure  its  perfect  digestion 
when  placed  on  the  bath."  In  experiment  No.  26  he  demonstrated 
the  "comparative  digestibility  of  animal  and  vegetable  diet,"  and 
showed  "that  vegetables  are  less  easily  disposed  of  by  the  gastric 
organs  than  animal  or  farinaceous  substances."  In  subsequent 
experiments  he  demonstrated  the  coagulability  of  milk  by  the  gas- 
trie  juice,  and  its  importance  in  connection  with  the  digestion  of 
milk:  the  digestion  of  dift'erent  kinds  of  meat,  the  importance  of 
meat  in  the  action  of  the  gastric  juice,  and  showed  that  when  gastric 
secretion  into  which  meat  had  been  placed  was  kept  in  a  cool  place, 
digestion  ceased,  but  began  again  when  transferred  to  the  bath. 
In  another  experiment  he  calls  attention  to  ■"the  effect  of  violent 
passion  on  the  digestive  apparatus.""  The  necessity  of  a  perfect 
eonnninution  of  the  articles  of  diet  was  cleverly  demonstrated  in 
experiment  Xo.  34,  as  follows : 

March  14.  At  8  o'clock  15  mins.  introduced  two  ounces  of  rare  roasted 
beef,  suspended  by  a  string,  into  the  stomach,  and  at  the  same  time  put 
one  drachm  of  the  same  kind  of  meat  into  twelve  drachms  of  gastric 
juice,  contained  in  a  vial,  and  put  it  into  his  bosom.  The  piece  in  his 
stomach,  examined  every  hour  till  12  o'clock,  M.,  exhibited  an  uniform, 
but  very  slow  process  of  digestion,  confined  entirely  to  the  surface  of  the 
meat.     In  four  hours  about  half  of  it  onlj^  was  dissolved  and  gone.     That 


138  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

in  the  bosom,  at  the  same  time,  digested  still  slower,  owing  probably  to 
the  circumstances  that  the  fluid  in  the  vial  had  been  taken  out  when  the 
stomach  was  in  a  morbid  condition,  and  had  been  permitted  to  get  cold, 
even  to  the  freezing  point.  This  last  circumstance,  however,  was  probably 
of  less  importance  than  the  other.  The  meat  in  the  stomach  was  too 
much  confined  by  the  string,  was  not  permitted  to  move  about  freely  in 
the  gastric  fluids  by  the  natural  motions  of  the  stomach,  and  consequently 
did  not  digest  so  fast  as  it  otherwise  would  have  done.  Another  circum- 
stance or  two  may  also  have  contributed  to  interrupt  the  progress  of 
digestion,  such  as  anger  and  impatience,  which  were  manifested  by  the 
subject  during  this  experiment. 

His  conclusions  following  experiment  No.  35  contain  some  inter- 
esting statements. 

In  this  experiment  it  took  two  hours  for  the  digestion  of  a  meal  of 
bread  and  milk,  something  shorter  than  the  usual  time  for  the  disposal  of 
an  ordinary  meal.  For  those  who  have  healthy  and  unsophisticated  stom- 
achs, milk  appears  to  be  one  of  the  best  articles  of  diet  we  possess.  It  is 
less  stimulating  than  flesh,  and  more  nutritious  than  vegetables.  For 
persons  who  are  disposed  to  pyrexial  complaints,  and  who  are  not  obliged 
to  perform  hard  and  exhausting  labour,  it  is  the  most  appropriate  diet. 
But  the  stomach  is  a  creature  of  habit.  It  can  become  accustomed  to 
any  kind  of  diet;  and  sudden  changes  are  liable  to  derange  its  healthy 
actions.  To  those  accustomed  to  what  is  called  high  living,  such  as 
strong  meats,  strong  drinks,  and  high  seasoned  food  of  all  kinds,  the 
transition  to  a  milk  diet,  which  contains  a  considerably  lowered  stimula- 
tion, would  probably  be  an  imprudent  change.  When  necessary,  the 
change  should  be  so  gradual  that  the  stomach  should  by  degrees  become 
accommodated  to  it. 

Throughout  the  entire  series  of  experiments  he  was  suspending 
various  articles  of  diet  in  the  stomach,  noting  carefully  the  time 
required  for  the  digestion  of  each,  and  concluded  this  lot  of  experi- 
ments with  a  series  of  ten,  intended  to  demonstrate,  if  possible, 
"what  effects  were  produced  by  the  bile  and  pancreatic  juice  when 
added  to  chyme,"  making  the  following  notation: 

Not  being  able  to  procure  human  bile  in  a  pure  state,  I  obtained  some 
beef's  gall,  and  for  pancreatic  juice  substituted  diluted  muriatic  acid  (one 
scruple  acid  to  six  ounces  water).  I  was  induced  to  use  this  acid  from  a 
resemblance  observed  between  its  taste  and  that  of  the  pancreatic  juice, 
and  not  being  able  to  obtain  any  of  that  fluid  at  the  time.  These  experi- 
ments are  certainly  very  imperfect,  but.  such  as  they  are,  I  submit  them 
to  the  public.  They  may  tend  to  pave  the  way  to  more  perfect  experi- 
ments on  these  fluids. 

It  is  needless  to  sav  that  he  arrived  at  no  satisfactorv  conclu- 


1828-1833 — Alexis  Again  Returns  to  Canada  139 

sions  concerning  the  bile  and  pancreatic  juice.     In  summing  up 
this  entire  series  of  tifty-six  experiments,  he  says : 

The  preceding  Experiments,  I  think,  plainly  demonstrate  the  solvent 
properties  of  the  gastric  juice.  When  aliment  is  submitted  to  it  out  of 
the  stomach,  its  operation  is  rather  slower  than  when  the  process  of  diges- 
tion is  assisted  by  the  natural  warmth  and  motion  of  that  organ.  One 
reason  probably  is  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  a  bath  at  the  exact  neces- 
sary temperature,  and  another  one  may  present  itself  in  the  impossibility 
of  perfectly  imitating  the  motions  of  the  stomach.  With  all  these  disad- 
vantages, however,  chyme  formed  in  this  way  presents  the  same  uniform, 
sensible  appearance  as  that  which  is  formed  in  the  stomach  by  natural 
process. 

That  the  cold  gastric  juice  should  not  act  at  all,  or  but  very  imper- 
fectly, on  aliment  is  no  proof,  in  my  opinion,  that  it  does  not  possess 
solvent  powers,  even  on  the  admission  that  it  was  a  debatable  question. 
There  are  but  few  chemical  combinations  that  do  not  require  caloric  to 
effect  their  operations,  and  none  perhaps  that  are  not  facilitated  by  it. 
Some,  and  indeed  many  of  them,  require  an  intense  heat.  I  am  under  the 
impression,  though  I  have  never  fairly  tested  the  truth  of  it,  that  gastric 
juice  would,  in  a  sufficient  length  of  time,  act  on  aliment  in  a  cold  state. 
But  I  am  not  anxious  to  contend  for  any  extraordinary  or  unnecessary 
powers  of  this  fluid,  nor  is  it  necessary  to  prove  that  it  will  act  on  cold 
substances  or  in  cold  situations.  It  is  perfectly  manifest  that  its  opera- 
tion is  that  of  a  chemical  agent,  that  it  dissolves  aliment  out  of  the 
stomach  when  the  warmth  and  motions  of  that  organ  are  imitated,  and 
that  it  changes  the  various  and  heterogeneous  articles  submitted  to  its 
action  to  an  uniform,  homogeneous  semi-fluid,  varying,  however,  slightly 
in  color  and  consistence,  according  to  the  aliment  used. 

AVhile  in  the  midst  of  these  interesting  observations,  Alexis 
again  determined  to  go  to  Canada,  but  this  time  not  without  the 
consent  of  his  benefactor.  Dr.  Beaumont,  referring  to  this  event, 
says : 

In  the  spring  of  1831  circumstances  made  it  expedient  for  him  to  return 
with  his  family  from  Prairie  du  Chien  to  Lower  Canada  again.  I  relin- 
quished his  engagements  to  me  for  the  time  on  a  promise  that  he  would 
return  when  required,  and  gave  him  an  outfit  for  himself,  wife,  and  chil- 
dren. They  started  in  an  open  canoe  via  the  Mississippi,  passing  by  St. 
Louis,  Mo.,  ascended  the  Ohio  river,  then  crossed  the  state  of  Ohio  to 
the  lakes,  and  descended  Lake  Erie,  Ontario,  and  the  River  St.  Lawrence 
to  Montreal,  where  they  arrived  in  June. 

Unlike  the  previous  occasion  on  Avhich  St.  ]Martin  took  his 
departure,  Dr.  Beaumont  felt  certain  that  he  would  be  able  to 
obtain  his  services  again  for  further   experimentation.     He  felt, 


140  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^yiUiel}n  Beaumont 

however,  that  he  liad  gone  about  as  far  as  he  could  without  the 
assistance  of  others,  and  determined  to  get  in  touch,  if  possible, 
with  men  trained  in  the  art  of  investigation,  and  especially  on  the 
subject  of  chemistry.  He  was  aware  that  the  best  chemists,  in  fact 
the  only  physiological  chemists,  were  then  in  Europe,  and  so  he 
applied  for  a  furlough  of  one  year,  to  begin  in  September,  1831,  for 
the  purpose  of  going  abroad  with  Alexis.  He  was  gratified  to  re- 
ceive on  May  23,  1831,  the  following  conununication  from  Surgeon- 
General  Lovell : 

I  have  just  returned  to  Washington  after  an  absence  of  several  weeks, 
and  submitted  your  application  for  a  furlough  for  one  year  to  the  secre- 
tary of  war,  who  has  directed  it  to  be  given  at  such  time  as  you  may 
wish.  Nearly  every  officer  of  the  department  being  on  duty,  and  but  one 
at  a  post,  with  but  two  exceptions,  it  will  take  some  time  to  relieve  you, 
but  I  will  endeavor  to  do  it  by  the  time  you  mention — that  is,  "on  or  be- 
fore the  last  of  September,  next."  I  should  be  much  pleased  to  see 
Alexis  on  your  route  to  the  East. 

Shortly  after  this,  ' '  Special  Order  No.  78 ' '  was  sent  out  from  the 
adjutant-general's  office  by  order  of  Major-General  Macomb  to 
the  eft'ect  that  "Assistant-Surgeon  Elwers  will  repair  to  Prairie  du 
Cliien,  and  there  relieve  Surgeon  Beaumont,  who,  when  relieved, 
has  leave  of  absence  for  one  year,  with  permission  to  visit  Europe. 
At  the  expiration  of  his  furlough.  Surgeon  Beaumont  will  report 
himself  for  duty  by  letter  to  the  Adjutant-General  and  Surgeon- 
General.  ' ' 

Beaumont  was  doubtless  elated  over  the  fact  that  he  would  now 
be  able,  through  the  aid  of  the  European  scientists,  to  fathom  some 
of  the  problems  of  digestion  which  up  to  this  time  had  remained 
insurmountable.  Everything  was  in  readiness,  therefore,  for  his 
departure,  when,  to  iiis  great  disappointment,  tliere  was  issued  by 
order  of  the  same  authority  on  October  2-t,  1831,  "Special  Order 
No.  127:" 

The  public  service  will  not  permit  the  absence  of  Surgeon  Beaumont 
from  duty  at  this  time;  accordingly  the  indulgence  intended  to  have  been 
accorded  to  him  in  Special  Order  No.  78  is  recalled  until  otherwise 
directed. 

The  "public  service,"  in  all  probability,  had  reference  to  an 
Indian  outbreak,  which  was  brewing  about  this  time.  Black  Hawk, 
a  noted  chief  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  who  had  fought  on  the 
side  of  the  British  in  the  War  of  1812,  now  began  to  resent  what 


1828-1833— Black  Hatvk  Indian  ^¥ar 


141 


he  considered  the  unlawful  encroachment  of  the  whites  on  his  terri- 
tory, and  refused  to  submit  to  a  treaty  made  by  the  other  chiefs 
of  his  tribe  in  the  previous  year  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  ceding  all  of 
the  lands  east  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  whites.  During  the  year 
1831   the   savages   were    pretty   completely   humbled   by   General 


C— "^"^^-^-^J^    ^>tue^  t     C^T^C-L- 


Special  order  No.  78,  July  13,  1831,  gi-anting  a  furlough  for  one  year,  with 
permission  to  visit  Europe,  which  Beaumont  was  "permitted  merely  to  antici- 
pate, but  not  to  realize." 

Gaines,  but  in  the  spring  of  1832  they  renewed  their  activities,  and 
the  Black  Hawk  Indian  war  began  in  reality.  The  scenes  of  their 
outrages  were  in  upper  Illinois  and  Michigan.  Therefore  all  of 
the  regular  troops  from  Forts  Howard,  Crawford,  and  Dearborn 
were  centered  at  Fort  Dearborn,  with  a  view  to  crushing  them  as 


142  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^Yilliam  Beaumont 

quickly  as  possible.  It  was  feared  that  other  tribes,  especially  the 
"Winnebagoes,  might  join  the  belligerent  Sacs  and  Foxes,  but 
thi-ough  much  diplomacy  and  maneuvering  such  an  alliance  was 
prevented.  The  war  continued  with  vigor  through  the  spring  and 
summer  of  1832,  but  in  two  battles  fought  on  July  21st  and  August 
2d  the  Indians  were  so  thoroughly  whipped  and  routed  that  a  com- 
plete cessation  of  hostilities  was  brought  about,  and  Beaumont 
returned  with  his  regiment  to  Prairie  clu  Chien. 

It  was  anticipated  in  the  beginning  of  the  hostilities  that  the 
forces  in  the  West  would  not  be  sufficient  to  cope  with  the  Indians, 
and  troops  were  ordered  to  the  scene  from  Fortress  Monroe 
and  New  York  harbor  under  the  command  of  General  "VVinfield 
Scott.  Seven  companies  of  these  troops  left  Buffalo  for  Detroit 
on  July  3d  on  the  steamer  Henry  Clay.  On  the  following  day  a 
man  became  suddenly  ill  on  board  with  symptoms  of  Asiatic  cholera, 
and  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  country  the  disease  was 
introduced  here.  Just  after  their  arrival  at  Detroit  a  second  case 
occurred,  and,  in  spite  of  every  effort  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the 
disease,  cases  multiplied  rapidly,  and  within  ten  days  thirty-four 
deaths  had  occurred.  Soldiers  deserted  in  the  panic  which  ensued 
and  spread  the  disease  broadcast.  It  was  transmitted  to  Chicago 
by  steamboats  from  Detroit,  and  there  the  victims  were  numbered 
by  the  hundreds.  Troops  marching  from  Chicago  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi, to  aid  those  at  Fort  Crawford  in  the  warfare  against  the 
Indians,  carried  the  dreaded  disease  to  Prairie  du  Chien  and  other 
points  along  the  upper  Mississippi.  The  conflict  with  the  Indians 
was  over  before  these  troops  reached  the  scene  of  battle,  but  they 
had  met  even  a  more  fatal  foe.  Thus  Dr.  Beaumont's  detention  at 
Fort  Crawford  gave  him  a  wide  experience  in  two  campaigns — that 
against  the  Indians  and  that  against  the  cholera.  In  fact,  the 
Black  Hawk  war  was  afterward  known  in  army  circles  as  the 
"cholera  campaign."^  His  experience  with  the  disease  was  evi- 
dently quite  large,  and  he  manifested  considerable  interest  in  the 
study  of  it.  Some  of  his  views  on  the  subject  are  unique,  to  say 
the  least.  The  following  thoughts  were  found  scribbled  on  a  frag- 
ment of  paper,  and  were  probably  written  about  this  time : 

The  Greater  proportional  numbers  of  deaths  in  the  cholera  epidemics 
are,  in  my  opinion,  caused  more  by  fright  and  presentiment  of  death 
than  from  the  fatal  tendency  of  violence  of  the  disease. 


^Brown's  "Medical  Department  of  the  United  States  Army." 


1828-1833— Cholera  and  Intermittent  Fever  143 

Like  a  snake  watching  and  writhing  for  its  prey,  the  Cholera  lurks 
unseen  through  the  pestiferous  and  malarious  atmosphere,  stealing  upon 
human  beings  and  thickly  populated  places,  and  gluts  its  cadaverous  appe- 
tite more  by  the  fears  and  dread  it  occasions  than  by  its  otherwise  natu- 
rally fatal  effects  upon  human  life. 

The  consternation  and  terror  excited  in  community  when  the  cholera 
makes  its  appearance  is  like  that  extraordinary  Instinct  which  compels 
animals  and  birds  to  thrust  themselves  into  the  open  mouth  of  the  ser- 
pent, whose  almost  only  power  to  destroy  consists  in  the  fatal  charm  or 
terrific  influence  of  the  most  distressing  fear  and  dread  which  it  is  capable 
of  inflicting  on  its  intended  victim. 

The  general  panic,  like  a  phantom,  pursues  the  public  imagination; 
community  becomes  alarmed;  individuals  cannot  abstain  from  the  most 
distressing  foreboding  and  sickening  apprehensions  of  an  attack  and  fatal 
termination;  some  fly  from  the  flrst  scenes  of  its  occurrence,  with  a  view 
of  escaping  its  ravages;  but  from  the  effects  of  their  fears,  like  the 
charm'd  bird,  flying  in  the  utmost  distress  and  agony  from  bush  to  bttsh 
and  constantly  approximating  the  dreaded  destruction,  they  only  approach 
nearer  and  nearer  to  the  fatal  infltience  of  the  dreaded  disease,  and  flnally 
thrust  themselves  resignedly  into  the  gaping  jaws  of  death,  as  if  to 
rescue  their  minds  or  imaginations  from  the  most  agonizing  pains  of  fear 
and  dread. 

So  long  as  the  general  panic  be  unexcited  and  individuals  remain  tm- 
alarmed,  and  reason  has  control  of  intellect,  the  disease  is  little  or  no 
more  fatal  than  many  other  epidemics.  Btit  when  community  becomes 
alarmed,  and  the  public  imagination  dwells  upon  its  fatal  influence,  and 
individuals  constantly  forebode  death  and  general  destruction,  great  fatal- 
ity ensues,  thousands  sacriflce  their  rational  faculties  to  their  fears  and 
become  an  easy  prey  to  this  fatally  dreaded  disease. 

In  this  connection  it  "will  not  be  amiss  to  present  some  notes 
jotted  down  by  liim  on  the  "History  of  the  Intermittent  Fever  As 
It  Prevailed  at  Prairie  dii  Chien  in  the  Summer  and  Fall  of  1830, ' ' 
in  which  he  shows  a  very  clear  insight  into  some  of  the  causative 
factors  of  malaria,  thongh  unaware  of  its  trne  cause. 

In  the  month  of  July  a  few  irregular  intermittents  made  their  appear- 
ance, both  among  the  soldiers  and  inhabitants  of  the  place,  in  company 
with  mild  remittent  Dysenteries  and  Diarrhoeas.  The  weather  during 
this  month  was  extremely  hot  and  dry,  with  almost  constant  south  winds. 
The  Mississippi  river  had  been  very  high  during  the  months  of  May  and 
June,  so  as  to  overflow  much  of  the  prairie,  but  subsided  rapidly  in  July, 
leaving  numerous  stagnant  ponds  and  marshes  exposed  to  the  excessive 
heat  of  the  sun.  About  the  first  of  August  the  river  rose  rapidly  again,  so 
as  to  overfiow  its  borders  considerably,  and  fill  the  ponds  and  marshes 
again,  but  soon  fell  more  rapidly  than  before,  the  hot  and  dry  weather 
continuing,  without  any  rain.     Frequent  heavy  fogs  came  over  early  in 


144  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiam  Beaumont 

the  mornings  during  the  forepart  of  the  month,  with  occasional  sudden 
changes  of  the  hot,  dry  wind  from  the  south  to  the  west  and  north,  con- 
tinuing for  a  few  hours  only  very  chilly  and  damp. 

In  the  first  week  in  August  Intermittents  began  to  be  more  frequent 
and  severe,  but  quite  obscure  in  their  type  at  first,  appearing  very  com- 
monly in  the  form  of  Remittents,  accompanied  with  Dysenteric  symptoms; 
but  in  a  few  days  would  put  on  their  true  character  of  regular  Intermit- 


^-. 


^^ 


J^^  ^. 


1    ^^^/     y^^<^.^    ^*7^, 


Special  order  Ko.  20,  August  22,  1832,  signed  by  Zachary  Taylor,  colonel  in 
the  United  States  army,  granting  Beaumont  permission  to  avail  himself  of  a 
furlough  for  six  months. 


tents — at  first  of  the  Tertian  type,  but  in  the  third  week  assumed  the 
Quotidian  type,  generally  with  severity  of  attacks  and  obstinacy  of  symp- 
toms; and  cases  increasing  rapidly  from  10  to  20  daily. 

Early  in  June  he  had  again  been  permitted  to  anticipate  a  fur- 
lough for  the  purpose  of  visiting  Europe,  and  his  hopes  were  again 
raised  by  "Special  Order  No.  79"  from  the  adjutant-general's 
office : 


1828-1833 — Furlough  and  Home-Coming  145 

A  furlough  of  six  months,  with  permission  to  visit  Europe,  is  hereby 
granted  Surgeon  Beaumont,  to  take  effect  as  soon  as  his  service  can  he 
dispensed  with. 

AVitli  the  Indian  war  now  ended  and  the  cholera  epidemic  under 
control,  the  public  service  no  longer  recjuired  Dr.  Beaumont's 
presence  at  Fort  Crawford,  so  that  on  August  22,  1832,  Colonel 
Zachary  Taylor,  then  in  command  of  the  United  States  forces  at 
Fort  Crawford,  issued  the  final  order  which  permitted  his  de- 
parture from  the  Northwest : 

The  services  of  Surgeon  Beaumont  being  no  longer  necessary  here,  he 
has  permission  to  avail  himself  of  the  furlough  which  has  been  granted 
him  for  six  months  hy  the  proper  authority.  Dr.  Beaumont  will  accompany 
and  attend  the  wounded  militia  as  far  as  St.  Louis  who  were  left  here  in 
the  hospitals  and  who  are  going  down  in  the  steamboat  William  "Wallace 
to  that  place. 

He  evidentlT  left  the  fort  on  the  following  day  Avitli  the  full 
intention  of  spending  his  furlough  abroad,  for  we  find  among  his 
papers  a  letter  of  introduction,  dated  August  2-4,  1832,  from  James 
G.  Soulard.  then  of  Galena.  111.,  whom  he  met  on  board  the  William 
Wallace,  to  his  uncle.  'Mr.  Benjamin  A.  Soulard.  of  Paris : 

I  have  just  returned  from  a  short  trip,  and  on  the  same  boat  was  my 
friend,  Dr.  Beaumont,  a  distinguished  surgeon  in  the  United  States  Army. 
He  told  me  that  he  was  about  to  leave  for  Europe  and  that  he  should  pass 
some  time  in  Paris.  He  is  taking  with  him  a  man  who  is  said  to  have 
recovered  from  the  most  extraordinary  wound  ever  known  up  to  the 
present  time.  I  take  pleasure  in  availing  myself  of  this  opportunity  of 
introducing  him  to  you  as  a  very  eminent  man,  worthy  of  your  confidence. 
I  foresee,  however,  that  considerable  difficulty  will  arise  when  you  meet, 
as  he  does  not  speak  any  French  and  you  speak  no  English,  but  I  trust 
that  you  will  find  some  means  of  communicating  with  each  other,  as  he  is 
a  lovable  and  dignified  man  possessed  of  great  knowledge. 

After  escorting  the  wounded  militia  safely  to  St.  Louis,  he 
promptly  made  his  way  toward  Plattsburgh  with  his  family,  and 
in  September  reported  himself  there,  '"'in  quest  of  his  man,  St. 
Martin. ' ' 

The  home-coming  of  the  Beaumonts  on  this  occasion  is  well 
described  by  their  niece."  then  a  mere  child,  living  in  Plattsburgh, 
She  describes  the  home  of  her  childhood  to  which  the  Beaumonts 
came : 


-"A  Flash   From   Memory,"    by  Mrs.    Elizabeth   Smith   Martin   in   the   Platts- 
burgh Rep  111)1  icayi  of  June  6,  1S96. 


146 


Life  and  Lcficrs  of  Br.  WiUiain  Btainnont 


Dr.  Beaumont  and  his  family  at  about  the  time  of  their  return  to  Platts- 
burgh.  (From  a  small  painting  executed  in  1832-:j3,  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Sarah 
Beaumont  Keim.) 


A  homely,  bizarre  bit  of  architecture,  gable  fronting  on  the  turn  of 
Margaret  into  Broad  street.  ...  No  coat  of  paint  in  our  remembrance 
had  ever  marred  the  gray  coloring  of  its  woody  outside  fibre,  to  which 
time  had  already  given  a  soft,  velvety  tinge.  .  .  .  The  year  18343 
closed  up  our  residence  in  this  ancient  landmark,  yet  deserves  another 
note  from  one  of  its  inmates,  as  it  brought  back  to  the  home  fold,  from  a 
far  off  western  military  post.  Fort  Crawford,  Dr.  William  Beaumont,  his 
interesting  wife  and  trio  of  j'oung  children. 

Many  years  had  come  and  gone  since  the  last  visit  of  Mrs.  Beaumont 


»  Should  be  1832. 


1828-1833 — Alexis  Beturns  from  Canada  147 

to  her  Lake  Champlain  home,  and  the  event  seemed  like  some  jubilant 
holiday  to  all  concerned.  The  trio  had  but  recently  passed  through  the 
fearful  ordeal  of  an  Indian  raid  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  called  the  "Black 
Hawk  War"  in  military  parlance,  and,  although  of  brief  duration,  the  raid 
had  its  horrors  outside  the  fort.  These  laid  strong  hold  on  the  nervous 
system  of  the  madame.  by  nature  the  most  cheery,  brave,  and  buoyant 
among  heroic  women.  But  sight  of  tomahawk,  scalping  knife,  and  bleed- 
ing scalps  carried  outside  by  painted  fiends  wrought  mischief  on  her 
gentle  and  sympathetic  temperament.  Like  her  young  relative  a  brief 
term  of  years  before,  she  at  last  found  happy  retreat  among  kith  and  kin, 
who  also  shared  in  the  glad  jubilation.  To  this  day  the  writer  cannot 
solve  the  problem  as  to  the  how  and  where  this  increased  domestic  popu- 
lation found  stow  away  accommodation  in  the  small,  low  browed  domicil. 
Yet  there  never  seemed  lack  of  room,  enough  and  to  spare,  while  ever 
from  morning  to  night  fall  good  cheer  and  boncomradeship  kept  carnival. 

Dr.  Beaumont's  greatest  pleasure  on  this  occasion  was  found  in 
Alexis'  prompt  appearance  on  the  scene  according  to  promise.  The 
Doctor  lost  no  time  in  again  beginning  his  investigations,  but  before 
doing  so  he  endeavored  to  force  Alexis'  loyalty  through  the  medium 
of  a  written  agreement.  On  October  16,  1832,  the  following  legal 
contract  was  drawn  up  between  the  two  parties,  the  like  of  which 
has  never  been  duplicated  in  history : 

Articles  of  agreement  and  Covenant,  indented,  made,  concluded  and 
agreed  upon  at  Plattsburgh,  in  the  County  of  Clinton  and  State  of  New 
York,  the  Nineteenth  day  of  October,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-two,  between  William  Beaumont,  Surgeon  in  the 
Army  of  the  United  States  of  America,  of  the  one  part,  and  Alexis  St. 
Martin,  Laborer,  of  Berthier,  in  the  Province  of  Lower  Canada,  of  the 
other  part,  as  follows,  to  wit: 

The  said  Alexis  St.  Martin,  for  the  consideration  herein  mentioned,  doth 
covenant,  promise  and  agree  to  and  with  the  said  William  Beaumont,  his 
heirs,  executors,  administrators  and  assigns,  by  these  presents  in  manner 
following — that  is  to  say,  that  he,  the  said  Alexis,  shall  and  will  for  and 
during  the  full  term  of  one  year,  to  begin  and  to  be  accounted  from  the 
date  of  these  presents,  serve,  abide,  and  continue  with  the  said  William 
Beaumont,  wherever  he  shall  go  or  travel,  or  reside  in  any  part  of  the 
world,  his  covenant  Servant,  and  diligently  and  faithfully,  and  according 
to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  skill  and  knowledge,  exercise  and  employ  him- 
self in  and  do  and  perform  such  service  and  business  matters  and  things 
whatsoever  as  the  said  William  shall  from  time  to  time  order,  direct,  and 
appoint  to  and  for  the  most  profit  and  advantage  of  the  said  William,  and 
likewise  be  just  and  true  and  faithful  to  the  said  William  in  all  things 
and  in  all  respects. 

And  the  said  Alexis,  for  the  consideration  herein  after  mentioned,  fur- 
ther specially  covenants  and  agrees  with  said  William  that  he,  the  said 


148 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^ViUianl  Beaumont 


^//j  it,  #«. 


■iMrrSiiSZZ- 


'Omj-O 


►Zife 


The  last  page  of  a  contract  made  on  October  19.  ls:j2.  betwien  Dr.  Beaumont 
and  St.  Martin,  granting  the  use  of  the  latter's  .stomach  for  experimental  pur- 
pose. At  the  bottom  are  seen  Alexis'  acknowledgments  of  payments,  aggre- 
gating $147. 


1828-1833— Articles  of  Agreement  149 

Alexis,  will  at  all  times  during  said  term,  when  thereto  directed  or  re- 
quired by  said  William,  submit  to,  assist  and  promote  by  all  means  in  his 
power  such  Physiological  or  Medical  experiments  as  the  said  William  shall 
direct  or  cause  to  be  made  on  or  in  the  Stomach  of  him,  the  said  Alexis, 
either  through  or  by  the  means  of  the  aperture  or  opening  thereto  in  the 
side  of  him,  the  said  Alexis,  or  otherwise,  and  will  obey,  suffer  and  comply 
with  all  reasonable  and  proper  orders  or  experiments  of  the  said  William 
^in  relation  thereto,  and  in  relation  to  the  exhibiting  and  showing  of  his 
said  Stomach,  and  the  powers  and  properties  thereof,  and  of  the  appur- 
tenances, and  powers,  properties,  situation  and  state  of  the  contents 
thereof.  It  being  intended  and  understood  both  by  said  William  and  said 
Alexis  that  the  facilities  and  means  afforded  by  the  wounds  of  the  said 
Alexis  in  his  side  and  stomach  shall  be  reasonably  and  properly  used  and 
exhibited  at  all  times  upon  the  request  or  direction  of  said  William  for 
the  purposes  of  science  and  scientific  improvements,  the  furtherance  of 
knowledge  in  regard  to  the  power,  properties  and  capacity  of  the  human 
Stomach. 

And  in  consideration  of  the  premises,  and  of  the  several  matters  and 
things  by  the  said  Alexis  to  be  performed,  suffered  and  done  as  aforesaid, 
according  to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  premises,  and  on  condi- 
tion that  the  said  Alexis  shall  and  does  perform  the  same  on  his  part,  ac- 
cording to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  thereof,  and  not  otherwise,  the 
said  William  Beaumont  doth  for  himself,  his  heirs,  executors  and  admin- 
istrators covenant,  promise  and  agree  to  and  with  the  said  Alexis  by  these 
presents  that  the  said  AVilliam  shall  and  will  at  all  times  during  said 
term  find  and  provide  unto  and  for  the  said  Alexis  suitable,  convenient 
rooms  or  house  when  with  and  in  the  service  of  the  said  William,  and  also 
defray  the  necessary  expenses,  and  furnish  the  said  Alexis  good,  suitable 
and  sufficient  subsistance,  washing,  lodging  and  wearing  apparel  when 
journeying  with  and  at  the  request  and  directions  of  the  said  William. 
And  also  well  and  truly  pay,  or  cause  to  be  paid,  unto  the  said  Alexis,  his 
executors  or  administrators,  the  just  and  full  sum  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  lawful  money  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Manner 
following,  to  wit:  the  sum  of  forty  dollars,  parcel  thereof,  to  be  paid  to 
said  Alexis  at  or  within  one  day  after  the  execution  of  these  presents,  and 
the  residue  thereof,  being  one  hundred  and  ten  dollars,  to  be  paid  on  per- 
sonal application  to  said  William,  his  executors  or  administrators  at  the 
expiration  of  the  said  term,  which  will  be  one  year  from  the  date  hereof. 

In  witness  whereof,  as  well  the  said  Beaumont  as  the  said  Alexis  St. 
Martin  have  hereunto  set  their  respective  hands  and  seals,  the  day  and 
year  first  herein  written,  in  the  presence  of  each  other  and  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Jonathan  Douglas  Woodward,  Esquire,  the  subscribing  notary 
Public. 

W^r.  Beaumont. 
J.  Douglas  Woodwabd.  his 

Thomas  Geee?.^.  Alexis  X   St.  Maetix. 

Benj.  J.  MooRES.  mark. 


150  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

United  States  of  Aiierica, 
State  of  New  Yoek, 
Clixtox  CorxTY. 
I,  the  subscriber,  a  Notary  Public  in  and  for  said  State,  duly  Commis- 
sioned and  sworn  and  authorized  in  all  respects  to  act  as  such  Notary 
Public,  do  hereby  certify  and  attest  that  the  William  Beaumont  and  Alexis 
St.  Martin,  who  are  both  personally  known  to  me,  executed  and  signed  and 
delivered   the   above   instrument   in   writing   in   my   presence   and   in  the 
presence  of  each  other,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  above  named  subscrib- 
ing witnesses,  who  also  subscribed  their  names  as  witnesses  to  the  due 
execution  of  said  instrument  in  my  presence  and  in  the  presence  of  each 
other,  and  also  in  the  presence  of  both  of  said  parties. 

In  testimony  whereof  and  for  the  due  manifestation  whereof,  I  have 
hereunto  signed  my  name  and  affixed  my  seal  of  office  as  Notary  Public,  at 
Plattsburgh  aforesaid,  this  Nineteenth  day  of  October,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  Eight  hundred  and  thirty-two. 

J.  Douglas  Woodward,  Notary  Public. 

On  taking  his  departure  from  Plattsburgh  with  Alexis,  with  the 
intention,  no  doubt,  of  going  abroad,  he  left  a  little  missive  for  his 
wife  which  he  entitled  "Pill  Cochie's'*  parting  admonition  to  his 
dear  old  wife  Debh:" 

Take  good  care  of  thyself  and  the  children;  use  every  means  to  pre- 
serve their  health  and  thine  own;  be  neighborly  and  sociable  with  all  thy 
good  friends;  eat  their  good  dinners  and  drink  their  good  tea  when  you 
have  a  fair  chance.  Be  not  melancholy  or  much  depi'essed  at  my  absence; 
drive  evil  forebodings  from  thy  mind,  and  anticipate  my  happy  return  m 
the  Spring.  Make  all  around  you  happy  by  the  exercise  of  your  natural 
vivacity  and  cheerfulness  of  disposition. 

Bestow  a  goodly  share  of  your  care  and  attention  upon  Sarah;  you  can 
scarcely  be  too  vigilant  in  the  daily  observance  of  the  improvement  of  her 
mind  and  morals,  in  the  correction  of  every  little  irregularity  of  her  dis- 
position. Excite  her  emulation  to  excel  in  virtue  and  usefulness;  Examine 
her  improvements  from  day  to  day — every  day.  Suffer  not  too  much  in- 
dulgence. But,  above  all,  guard  well  her  associations,  and  watch  the  com- 
munions she  holds  with  herself  and  her  playmates. 

Suffer  riot  Lucretia  to  be  too  much  petted,  but  rather  check  her  natural 
vanity  and  affection.  Dont  let  the  "young  gentleman"  get  the  upper  hand 
of  you,  but  apply  the  rod  effectually  when  necessary  to  coerce  obedience 
to  your  authority. 

If  Dr.  Beaumont  really  had  any  intention  of  devoting  his  six 
months'  furlough  to  a  sojourn  abroad,  he  seems  to  have  decided 


*A  pet  name  of  Indian  derivation,  used  by  his  wife.  Mrs.  Keim  informs  me 
that  it  was  her  father's  custom,  upon  leaving  home,  to  place  loving  missives 
for  the  various  members  of  the  family  where  they  would  be  readily  found. 


1828-1833 — Spends  Furlougli   in  Washington  151 

soon  after  reaching  Washington  not  to  do  so.  It  is  said  that  he 
never  quite  forgave  his  superiors  for  curtailing  his  leave  of  absence, 
for  he  felt  that  the  actual  time  that  he  could  devote  to  his  work 
abroad  would  now  be  much  too  short  ^vhen  the  time  required  in 
going  and  coming  had  been  subtracted.  He  determined,  therefore, 
to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  furlough  in  Washington,  where  he 
could  have  at  least  every  facility  that  this  country  offered  for  con- 


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••&, 

Beaumont's   synoptical   index   of  various   authors   on   digestion,   revealing  the 
great  care  and  precision  with  which  he  worked. 

ducting  his  experiments,  and  more  especially  could  have  access 
to  books  that  were  necessary  to  enable  him  to  acquaint  himself 
thoroughly  with  the  literature  on  the  physiology  of  digestion. 
That  he  did  obtain  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  literature  is 
evidenced  by  the  vast  amount  of  manuscript  found  in  his  owti 
handwriting,  in  which  he  had  copied  page  after  page  from  the 
works  of  various  authorities  of  those  and  previous  days.     While 


152  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WilUemi  Beaumont 

reading  the  works  of  Spallanzani.  Pliilip.  ]\Iagendie.  Broussais, 
Leuret  and  Lassaigne,  Gnielin  and  Tiedeniann.  and  others,  he  copied 
verbatim  that  -which  impressed  him  becanse  of  its  conformity  with 
his  own  observations,  as  well  as  that  with  which  he  wished  to  take 
issue.  And  as  he  copied  he  would  intersperse  the  subject  matter 
with  parenthetical  remarks,  such  as  "true,"  "verily  so,"  "cer- 
tainly," "right,"  "even  so,"  "so  in  Alexis,"  "this  description 
exactly  ansAvers  to  the  appearance  of  the  mucous  coats  of  my 
Frenchman,"  "your  humble  servant  believes  that  the  partial 
solution  of  food,"  etc.,  "more  time  would  have  completed  the 
solution,  and  more  patience  and  closer  observation  Avould  have  con- 
firmed the  fact,  no  doubt,"  "so  says  Stevens  of  Edinburgh,"  "this 
last  is  hard  to  be  believed,  and  the  potato  and  parsnip  difficult  to 
be  understood."  His  systematic  and  accurate  methods  are  Avell 
shown  in  a  "Synoptical  Index  of  Different  Authors  on  Diges- 
tion, Stomach,  Gastric  Juice,  Etc.,"  which  he  kept  much  as  one 
keeps  a  card  index  system  today. 

Life  in  Washington  was  much  to  his  liking  after  years  of  trial 
and  toil  in  military  garrisons  on  the  wild  frontiers,  surrounded  by 
savages  who  were  constantly  haunting  the  forts  in  paint  and 
feathers,  and  not  infrequently  parading  with  the  scalps  of  their 
victims  mounted  on  poles.  Hoav  different  at  the  capital— four 
months  more  of  leisure  to  spend  just  as  he  wished,  unhampered  by 
routine  duties,  surrounded  by  books  and  men  of  note  in  medicine, 
law,  and  diplomacy,  and  with  Alexis  St.  ]\rartin  at  his  beck  and 
call.  His  work  had  already  received  recognition  from  such  men  as 
Edward  Everett,  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  Lewis  Cass,  and  others,  and 
he  received  many  invitations  to  dine  and  connnune  with  the  coun- 
try's most  illustrious  men.  Dr.  Lovell  was  now  able  to  render 
much  assistance  to  him.  and  did  so  freely.  There  is  evidence  that 
they  discussed  every  phase  of  the  work  together,  and  that  the 
surgeon-general  gave  him  much  valuable  advice.  Through  him 
Alexis  was  made  sergeant  of  a  "detachment  of  orderlies  stationed 
at  the  War  Department  in  Washington,  commanded  by  Lieutenant 
S.  Cooper,"  and  received  payment  for  his  services  at  the  rate  of 
$12  per  month,  an  allowance  of  $2.50  per  month  for  clothing,  and 
ten  cents  per  day  for  subsistence.  This  was  done  in  order  to  make 
lighter  the  burdens  of  Dr.  Beaumont,  on  whom  Alexis  was  con- 
stantly making  demands  beyond  the  terms  of  their  agreement.  The 
"descriptive  Role  of  Sergeant  Alexis  St.  Martin"  states  that  he  is 


1838-1833— Third  Series  of  Experiments  153 

28  years  old,  lias  dark  eyes,  dark  hair,  dark  complexion,  and  is  five 
feet  five  inches  high,  that  he  was  born  in  Berthier,  Lower  Canada, 
that  his  occupation  is  that  of  laborer,  and  that  he  enlisted  on 
December  1,  1832,  for  a  period  of  five  years. 

As  soon  as  all  of  these  details  were  accomplished,  Dr.  Beaumont 
started  on  his  third  series  of  observations,  and  between  December 
1,  1832,  and  March  1,  1833,  recorded  116  experiments,  some  of 
which  were  simply  in  confirmation  of  those  that  had  gone  before — 
the  testing  of  the  temperature  of  the  stomach  when  full,  when 
fasting,  when  exercising,  and  when  resting;  the  length  of  time 
required  to  digest  various  food  substances,  etc.  Some  experiments 
disproved  the  old  theory  of  maceration,  and  in  others  he  made  an 
effort  to  imitate  the  gastric  juice.  Experiment  No.  101.  for 
instance,  in  which  he  tests  the  powers  of  a  solution  of  muriatic  and 
acetic  acids,  which  at  least  simulated  gastric  juice  in  taste,  revealed 
to  him  that  "the  gastric  juice  contains  some  principles  inappre- 
ciable to  the  senses  or  to  chemical  tests."  He  found  that  "when 
there  are  indications  of  disease  on  the  coats  of  the  stomach  and  on 
the  tongue,  digestion  is  consequently  protracted."  Alexis,  it  seems, 
was  very  fond  of  alcohol,  and  at  times  drank  immoderately.  Ac- 
cordingly, therefore,  we  find  in  connection  with  one  of  the 
experiments  such  a  statement  as,  "the  diseased  appearance  of  the 
stomach  at  this  examination  was  probably  the  effect  of  intoxication 
the  day  before."  While  Dr.  Beaumont  had  found  that  the  "sense 
of  hunger  resides  in  the  stomach,  and  is  as  well  allayed  by  putting 
the  food  directly  into  the  stomach  as  when  the  previous  steps  have 
been  gone  through  Avith,"  there  is  no  indication  that  Alexis  was 
ever  satisfied  to  receive  his  whisky  in  this  manner,  but  took  the 
position  that  this  was  one  appetite  which  could  not  be  appeased 
by  pouring  it  in  through  the  opening  in  the  stomach.  It  will  be 
remembered,  however,  that  Dr.  Beaumont  had  also  found  that  the 
"sense  of  taste  is  very  essential  to  the  proper  digestion"  in  that  it 
stimulated  the  flow  of  gastric  juice.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
in  many  of  these  experiments  in  which  the  Doctor  wished  to  have 
the  vials  kept  at  the  body  temperature,  they  were  carried  about 
by  the  hour  in  the  axilla,  evidently  with  the  idea  that  there  were 
certain  forces  in  animal  heat  or  body  temperature  which  could  not 
be  obtained  on  the  water  bath. 


CHAPTER  YIII. 

1833. 

While  in  the  midst  of  these  researches  he  succeeded  in  enlisting 
the  assistance  of  two  of  America's  leading  scientists,  Robley 
Dungiison,  professor  of  physiology  in  the  medical  department  of 
the  University  of  Virginia,  and  Benjamin  Silliman,  professor  of 
chemistry  in  Yale  University.  The  correspondence  with  these  two 
gentlemen  is  of  great  historic  interest,  and  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to 
present  here,  in  full,  copies  of  all  the  letters.  Not  infrequently 
one  side  of  such  correspondence  is  brought  to  light  after  some 
years,  but  seldom  indeed  is  it  possible  to  present  the  letters 
interchanged  by  two  individuals  after  a  period  of  more  than 
seventy-fi\'e  years.  For  this  opportunity  we  have  again  to  thank 
Dr.  Beaumont's  remarkable  traits  of  accuracy  and  method. 
"Whenever  he  wrote  a  letter  of  some  importance,  he  first  scribbled 
a  rough  draft,  interlining,  erasing,  and  adding  until  the  compo- 
sition suited  him,  and  then  he  would  make  a  copy,  filing  away  the 
rough  draft  for  reference.  This  rendered  his  letters  exceedingly 
difficult  to  decipher,  and  nuich  time  and  care  were  required  in  the 
process.  I  have  endeavored  to  reproduce  them  practically  as  I 
found  them,  and  take  this  opportunity  to  state  that  allowance  should 
be  made  for  composition,  use  of  capitals,  punctuation,  etc.,  in  the 
letters  of  Dr.  Beaumont,  since  these  were  not  the  exact  copies  of 
those  that  were  forwarded. 

Dr.  Lovell  had  evidently  written  Professor  Dungiison^  on  behalf 
of  Dr.  Beaumont,  and  received  the  following  reply : 

UivivERSiTY  OF  VIRGINIA,  Jaiiuary  12,  1833. 
For  Dr.  Lovell,  Surgeon-General, 

Washington  City. 
Dear  Sir:    My  friend  Mr.  Trist  will  explain  to  you  the  causes  that  have 
prevented  me  from  witnessing  and  assisting  at  the  experiments  instituted 


1  Robley  Dunglison  came  to  the  University  of  Virginia  in  1824  from  England 
at  26  years  of  age.  crossing  the  ocean  in  the  Competitor.  The  voyage  required 
four  months,  six  weeks  of  which  were  spent  beating  about  the  English  Channel. 
He  was  practically  the  founder  of  the  medical  department,  and  at  different  times 
served  as  secretarj'  and  chairman  of  the  faculty.  Dr.  Dunglison  soon  took  a 
high  rank  as  teacher  and  writer,  and  was  Mr.  Jefferson's  favorite  physician.  In 
1833  he  went  to  the  University  of  Maryland  as  professor  of  therapeutics,  and 
later  to  Jefferson  College  to  take  the  chair  of  the  institutes  of  medicine.  He 
died  April  1,  1869.  having  made  many  important  contributions  to  medicine. 
(Archives  of  University  of  Virginia.) 

154 


1833 — Professor  JRoNeij  Dunglison 


155 


i^^!2^ 


'^/'o:^Sz^A.^~t: 


Professor  Robley  Dunglison    (photographed   from   an   original   painting  in   the 
halls  of  the  University  of  Virginia)  and  part  of  a  note  to  Beaumont. 


156  Life  and  Letters  e>f  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

by  Dr.  Beaumont  and  yourself  on  the  interesting  and  rare  case  which  is 
now  and  has  Ijeen  engaging  your  attention,  as  well  as  from  expressing  in 
person  my  high  sense  of  the  honor  you  do  me  by  desiring  that  I  should 
be  in  any  manner  associated  with  you.  I  had  seen  a  detail  of  certain  ex- 
periments by  yourself  and  Dr.  Beaumont  on  the  subject  of  this  case  sev- 
eral years  ago,-  and  had  fully  intended  to  notice  them  in  a  work  on  Human 
Physiology  recently  published  by  me,  but  the  Journal  was  mislaid,  and  I 
could  not  refer  to  it  in  time.  One  of  these  experiments,  if  I  recollect 
rightly,  was  on  artificial  digestion,  and  the  result  showed  that  a  piece  of 
corned  beef  experiences  the  same  changes  as  w^hen  it  was  inserted  through 
the  wound  into  the  interior  of  the  Stomach:  and  another,  that  the  vege- 
table substances  underwent  chymefication  in  the  stomach  more  speedily 
and  thoroughly  than  different  kinds  of  meat  which  were  passed  in  at  the 
same  time.  Both  experiments  were  interesting  as  confirming  the  views  of 
Spallanzani  and  the  results  of  the  experiments  made  at  the  Hospital  La 
Charite  of  Paris  on  a  female  with  a  fistulous  opening  in  the  stomach,  and 
those  obtained  by  Helm,  of  Vienna,  on  two  similar  cases,  as  regards  the 
effect  of  the  juice  contained  in  the  Stomach  in  the  solution  of  alimentary 
substances. 

It  would  have  been  additionally  instructive  to  have  witnessed  the  effect 
of  saliva  only  on  the  same  Aliments  out  of  the  body  for  the  purpose  of 
deducing  whether  that  fluid  possesses  the  sole  agency  in  digestion,  as  sup- 
posed by  Montegre,  or  merely  an  adjuvant,  as  presumed  by  the  best 
Physiologists:  or  what  are  the  changes  effected  by  it  on  the  Aliment  com- 
pared with  those  that  result  from  the  action  of  the  compound  fluid 
(formed  of  the  various  secretions  from  the  supra-diaphramatic  portion  of 
the  alimentary  canal  and  of  the  stomach  itself)  met  with  in  the  interior 
of  that  organ,  and  which  was  the  solvent  in  your  experiments. 

The  results  of  j'our  second  experiment  impressed  me  forcibly,  being 
somewhat  at  variance  with  the  inferences  of  Gosse,  Montegre,  Magendie, 
and  others  from  their  experiments,  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the  first 
volume,  page  955,  of  my  Physiology,  regarding  the  comparative  digest- 
ibility of  animal  and  vegetable  substances.  Since  the  period  at  which 
your  first  experiments  were  made  you  have,  doubtless,  instituted  others, 
which  may  have  led  you  to  confirm  or  disprove  your  first  obtained  result. 

It  would  be  signally  interesting  to  me  to  learn  the  comparative  digest- 
ibility, as  tested  by  this  individual,  of  the  great  chemical  divisions  of  Ali- 
ments— amylaceous,  mucilagenous,  saccharine,  aciduous.  oily  and  fatty, 
caseous,  gelatinous,  and  fibrinous — taking,  as  example  of  each.  Starch 
(Arrow  Root,  sago,  ordinary  wheaten  starch).  Mucilage  or  Gum  (Gum 
Arabic),  Sugar,  Acidulous  fruits  (with  and  without  the  skins).  Butter  or 
Suet,  Cheese  (mild  and  pungent).  Gelatine  (Isinglass).  Albumen  (fiuid 
and  concrete,  as  in  the  raw  and  boiled  white  of  egg),  and  Fibrine  (formed 
by  repeatedly  macerating  the  slices  of  muscular  flesh  in  water  under  150° 
Fahrenheit),  as  well  as  of  the  individual  articles  forming  these  divisions 


^Medical    Recorder,     containing    first     .short     series     of    experiments    made    at 
Mackinac. 


1833 — Dunglison  Suggests  Lines  of  Besearcli  157 

when  compared  with  each  other.  These  experiments  might  be  made 
either  in  the  stomacli  or  artificially,  and  it  might  be  instructive  to  adopt 
both  courses. 

As  regards  the  nature  of  tlie  fluids  met  with  in  the  stomach  of  fasting 
Animals,  and  to  which,  collectively,  the  term  gastric  juice  has  been  ap- 
plied, experiments  exhibit  great  discrepancy.  It  would  be  gratifying  to  me 
to  learn  the  general  result  of  your  Researches.  Did  Litmus  Paper  indi- 
cate the  presence  of  any  free  acid  or  alkali?  If  acid,  could  it  be  dis- 
covered, by  burning,  whether  the  muriatic  or  Acetic  was  the  one  in  ques- 
tion, or  did  the  Fumes  of  Ammonia  indicate  the  existence  of  either,  or  a 
solution  of  Nitrate  of  Silver  that  of  the  former?  Did  the  fluid  obtained 
from  the  stomach,  whilst  fasting,  deprive  putrid  substances  of  their  septic 
characters?  Did  it  remove  the  flavor  of  certain  aliments,  as  of  wine?  Did 
you  examine  it  with  the  microscope — that  least  satisfactory  of  all  meth- 
ods for  investigating  the  nature  of  animal  fluids — and,  if  so,  what  were  the 
appearances?  Did  it  always  coagulate  milk?  It  would  afford  me  great 
satisfaction  also  to  learn  the  effect  of  subjecting  pure  Fibrine,  Albumen, 
or  Gelatine  to  the  action  of  this  fluid  out  of  the  stomach,  and  to  see  how 
far  they  experience  mutations  in  their  sensible  and  chemical  properties. 
When  the  experiment  is  made  on  pure  Fibrine,  the  Albumen  contained  in 
the  gastric  fluid  may  be  precipitated  by  a  solution  of  the  Bichloride  of 
Mercury.  The  precipitate  is  a  compound  of  the  salt  of  albumen,  in  the 
proportion  of  about  one  of  the  former  to  three  or  four  of  the  latter,  so  that 
by  drying  the  precipitate  the  quantity  of  Albumen  in  the  fluid  can  be 
easily  determined.  If  the  flbrinous  solution  be  now  evaporated  at  a  mod- 
erate heat  until  it  forms  a  thick  mass,  and  concentrated  acetic  be  added, 
with  the  assistance  of  heat  a  tremulous  jelly  is  formed,  which  is  com- 
pletely dissolved  by  the  addition  of  warm  water,  provided  the  mass  be 
simply  flbrine;  but  if  the  Fibrine  has  experienced  changes  during  the 
process  of  artificial  digestion  or  chymefication,  different  results  will  be 
obtained. 

In  like  manner,  if  the  artificial  digestion  has  been  accomplished  on 
Albumen,  provided  the  Albumen  has  experienced  no  conversion,  the  solu- 
tion of  Bichloride  of  Mercury  will  precipitate  it,  and  the  quantity  of  Albu- 
men so  precipitated  may  be  compared  with  that  subjected  to  the  process 
of  digestion. 

Lastly,  if  Gelatine  has  been  employed,  the  quantity  remaining  after 
digestion  may  be  approximated  by  precipitating  it  with  Tan,  prepared  by 
infusing  an  ounce  of  Gall  nuts  in  a  pint  of  water.  The  quantity  of  Gela- 
tine in  the  precipitate  may  be  roughly  appreciated  by  considering  that 
there  are  somewhat  less  than  two  parts  of  Tan  to  three  of  Gelatine. 

In  the  case  of  the  patient  at  La  Charite,  the  food  during  its  conversion 
into  Chyme  appeared  to  have  acquired  an  increase  of  its  gelatine  and  a 
substance  in  appearance  flbrinous,  but  others  have  asserted  that  gelatine 
has  not  been  met  with  in  the  chyme,  which  is  scarcely  comprehensible 
where  gelatine  has  been  the  Aliment,  as  the  conversion  must  have  been 
total. 


158  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^yiUi(un  Beaumont 

You  will  pardon  me  for  the  length  of  the  preceding  detail,  every  topic 
of  which  has  probably  suggested  itself  to  you  already.  It  will  afford  me 
great  pleasure  to  learn  any  facts — which  the  Case  has  taught  you  and 
Dr.  Beaumont — of  a  physiological  character.  I  do  not  abandon  the  hope 
of  being  in  Washington  in  the  course  of  a  few  days.  At  present  the  roads 
from  their  roughness  are  almost  impassible,  but,  if  the  frosty  weather 
continues,  they  will  be  in  order  probably  by  the  commencement  of  next 
week.  The  whole  journey  has  now  to  be  performed  by  land,  and  our  Vir- 
ginia Roads  are  proverbial  for  their  badness.  Should  I,  however,  be  pre- 
vented from  visiting  Washington.  I  may  perhaps  be  permitted  to  request 
an  account  of  your  experiments  and  observations,  in  order  that  I  may 
make  all  of  them  in  a  second  edition  of  my  work  on  Physiology,  should 
one  be  demanded,  or  communicating  them  in  your  name  to  the  American 
Philosophical  Society,  or  both,  should  such  be  your  desire. 

I  am.  with  best  respect, 

Obediently  yours, 

ROBLEY    DCXGLISON. 

Conditious  "under  foot"  improved  within  a  feAV  days,  as  Pro- 
fessor Dunglisou  prophesied,  and  he  ^vas  soon  able  to  make  the 
trip  from  Charlottesville  to  Washington  over  the  proverbially  bad 
Virginia  roads.  He  had  the  opportunity,  therefore,  to  satisfy 
himself  in  person  as  to  many  of  the  points  suggested  in  his  letter, 
and  to  give  Dr.  Beanmont  some  valuable  suggestions  in  the  further 
conduct  of  his  experiments.  A  careful  perusal  of  the  experiments 
made  between  Januai-y  24th  (experiment  No.  70)  up  to  the  end 
of  this  series  shows  that  Beaumont  carried  out  practically  all  of  the 
suggestions  offered  him  by  Dunglison.  The  microscopic  examina- 
tions were  also  made  during  Professor  Dunglison "s  stay  in  Wash- 
ington, and  were  conducted  by  him  and  Captain  IT.  Smith,  of  the 
army.  He  concluded,  however,  that  the  microscopical  examination 
of  the  gastric  .j\iice  afforded  very  little  information  on  the  sub.ject 
of  digestion.  What  Dr.  Beaumont  most  desired  of  Dunglison 
at  this  time  was  a  careful  chemical  analysis  in  order  to  determine, 
if  possible,  tliose  "solvent  ingredients"  whicli  up  to  this  time  had 
baffled  the  chemists  who  had  attempted  the  analysis  of  the  gastric 
juice  of  both  the  human  being  and  lower  animals. 

On  January  25th  Beaumont  left  a  bottle  of  gastric  .juice,  doubt- 
less at  Professor  Dunglison  "s  hotel  on  the  day  of  his  departure, 
with  the  following  note,  in  which  he  thanks  him  profusely  for  his 
assistance,  and  in  a  sul)tle  way  requests  Professor  Dunglison  not  to 
anticipate  him  in  the  pulilication  of  any  of  the  experiments  that  he 
had  seen  while  in  Washinuton  : 


1833— Delicate  Subject  Delicatehj  Treated  159 

Dr.  Beaumont  takes  pleasure  in  acknowledging  his  high  regard  and 
thankfulness  to  Professor  Dunglison  for  his  kind  and  valuable  assistance 
and  lively  interest  taken  in  the  prosecution  of  his  Gastric  Experiments, 
and  hopes  amply  to  be  able  to  remunerate  him  for  his  generous  exertions 
by  affording  him  a  more  full  and  satisfactory  view  of  the  result  of  his 
observations  when  he  shall  have  had  time  properly  to  collate  and  classify 
them. 

The  Bottle  of  Gastric  juice  is  cheerfully  submitted  for  chemical  analysis, 
with  a  strong  hope  and  expectation  that  Professor  D.  will  succeed  in  ob- 
taining very  important  and  satisfactory  results  and  communicate  these  in 
detail  to  Dr.  Beaumont  so  soon  as  pi'actically  convenient. 

Dr.  B.  is  much  indebted,  and  will  be  ever  grateful,  for  the  aid  and  in- 
structions received  from  Professor  D.,  and  is  disposed  to  reciprocate  everj- 
generous  desire,  mutually  to  afford  subjects  for  Physiological  investiga- 
tion and  improvement  so  far  as  he  is  capable.  Dr.  B.  hopes  his  feelings 
may  be  perfectly  appreciated — similar  confidence  he  could  repose  in  but 
few — but  he  feels  well  aware  that  by  Professor  Dunglison  he  will  never  be 
improperly  anticipated  in  his  intentions,  sooner  or  later,  to  publish  the 
experiments  collectively  by  premature  communication  to  any  Periodical 
Publication  of  partial  results,  whereby  impressions  of  an  undue  transfer 
merit  or  demerit  [?]  from  its  original  or  collateral  sources  might  be  liable 
to  be  made  upon  the  public  mind.  A  simple  notice  of  the  case  and  the 
intention  of  publication  may  not  be  improper,  and  is  not  objectionable. 

All  communications  and  suggestions  from  Professor  D.  on  this  subject 
will  be  thankfully  received,  and  gratefully,  if  not  scientifically,  appreciated 
and  attended  to. 

Washixgtox,  D.  C,  1  O.  K.,  P.  M.,  Friday,  Jan.  2-5,  1833. 

To  this  Dr.  Dtmglison  promptly  and  courteously  replied,  putting 
at  rest  any  fears  entertained  by  Dr.  Beaumont  as  to  his  publishing 
any  part  of  the  work. 

UxiVEESiTY  OF  ViRGixiA,  January  29,  1833. 
Dr.  Beaumont,  United  States  Service, 

Washington  City. 

Dear  Sir:  I  received  your  letter  so  late  that  I  was  unable  to  answer  it 
before  I  left  Washington.  I  thank  you  very  much  for  your  Bottle  of  the 
gastric  fluid,  which  I  will  examine  at  leisure,  and  be  most  happy  to  com- 
municate the  results  as  early  as  I  conveniently  can,  as  a  trifling  return 
for  j'our  kindness  in  permitting  me  to  examine  the  case  and  to  be  asso- 
ciated with  you  in  your  experiments. 

With  regard  to  the  publication  of  any  results,  you  may  rely  upon  me 
implicitly.  I  have  but  one  desire  in  the  prosecution  of  my  profession — by 
teaching  and  by  practice  to  benefit  my  fellow-men,  and  that  can  always 
be  done  with  due  credit  without  forestalling  my  coadjutors  in  the  field  of 
science,  or  arrogating  to  myself  merit  to  which  I  may  be  but  secondarily 
entitled.     The  praiseworthy  manner  in  which  you  have  entered  your  ex- 


160  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^YiUi(un  Beaunujut 

perimeiits  demands  my  thanks,  as  well  as  those  of  every  lover  of  science, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  that  when  complete  they  will  add  largely  to  our 
amount  of  useful  knowledge. 

I  will  with  pleasure  afford  you  every  facility  in  the  communication  of 
the  results  of  your  labors  to  the  public,  and  shall  be  quite  satisfied  to  per- 
form a  secondary  part.  Certainly  I  shall  not  anticipate  you.  The  field 
is  yours,  and  I  wish  you,  for  your  own  sake,  to  tell  it  to  the  best  account. 
By  the  bye,  do  me  the  favor,  at  your  leisure,  to  experiment  artificially 
with  the  saliva,  acidulated  with  the  phosphoric,  the  muriatic  and  acetic 
acids,  and  to  note  the  results.-  They  will  be  valuable  as  connected  with 
the  question  on  the  agents  of  digestion  raised  by  Montegre,  and  referred 
to  at  page  589  of  my  Physiology. 

It  will  afford  me  sincere  pleasure  to  hear  from  you  at  any  time,  and  to 
find  that  your  labors  are  duly  appreciated  by  the  liberal  and  enlightened 
members  of  our  Profession,  who  unfortunately  form  but  a  small  portion 
of  the  mass. 

Tomorrow  I  hope  to  be  able  to  institute  experiments  for  detecting  with 
accuracy  the  nature  of  the  acid  which  gives  character  to  the  gastric  fluid. 
The  sensible  properties  and  the  rough  chemical  experiments  made  at 
Washington  lead  me  to  believe  that  it  is  the  muriatic.  This  we  shall  fix 
with  certainty,  as  well  as  the  other  great  ingredients. 

Believe  me,  dear  sir,  with  great  respect  and  esteem. 

Yours  truly, 

ROIJLEY    DUXGLISOX. 

AYithoiit  awaiting  a  reply  to  this  letter,  Dungiison  sent  another 
on  February  6th,  reporting  the  preliminary  results  of  his  chemical 

tests : 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ViRGixiA.  February  6,  1833. 
To  Dr.  Beaumont,  United  States  Service. 

Washington  City. 
:\Iy  Dear  Sir:  Since  I  last  wrote  to  you,  my  friend  and  colleague.  Pro- 
fessor Emmet  and  myself  have  examined  the  Bottle  of  Gastric  fiuid  which 
I  brought  with  me  from  Washington,  and  we  have  found  it  to  contain 
free  muriatic  and  Acetic  acid,  Phosphates  and  muriates,  with  bases  of 
Potassa,  Soda,  Magnesia,  and  Lime,  and  an  animal  matter  soluable  in 
cold  water,  but  insoluable  in  hot.  We  were  satisfied,  you  will  recollect,  in 
Washington  that  free  muriatic  Acid  was  present,  but  I  had  no  conception 
it  existed  to  the  amount  met  with  in  our  experiments  here.  We  distilled 
the  gastric  fluid  when  the  free  acids  passed  over,  the  salts  and  animal 
matter  remaining  in  the  retort.  The  quantity  of  Chloride  of  Silver  thrown 
down  on  the  addition  of  the  Nitrate  of  Silver  was  surprising,  but  un- 
fortunately the  quantity  of  juice  we  possessed  proved  insuflScient  to  esti- 
mate the  precise  amount  of  the  ingredients,  a  matter,  however,  which  I 
conceive  to  be  of  no  great  importance.     Should  you  be  able,  however,  to 


3  "Beaumont's  Experiments,"  Xo,  96.  Plattsburgh  edition,  1833. 


1833 — Dunglison  Deplores  Systematic  Ohstinacy  161 

accumulate  for  me  half  a  pound  of  the  Juice,  and  give  it  to  Mr.  Trist  to 
send  on  to  me,  we  may  be  capable  of  proceeding  still  farther.  I  am  satis- 
fied, however.  I  think  it  probable  that  the  Acetic  Acid  is  the  great  disin- 
fecting agent.  If  you  will  take  a  drop  or  two  of  the  strong  Acetic  Acid 
(Radical  vinegar),  and  add  it  even  to  a  wineglass  of  water,  you  will  find 
it  disinfects  a  putrid  substance  with  great  rapidity.  Allow  me  to  sug- 
gest to  you  to  try  a  portion  of  animal  substance  (masticated  by  Alexis), 
half  in  a  mixture  about  as  sour  as  the  real  juice  and  the  other  half  in  the 
gastric  juice,  and  observe  the  character  of  the  solution  effected  in  each.-* 
Suppose  you  take  a  wineglass  and  afterwards  precipitate  it  by  Tan. 

By  the  way,  in  the  number  of  the  American  Journal  of  Medical  Science 
just  issued  you  will  see-  a  Review  of  my  Physiology,  in  which  the  writer 
accords  with  Dr.  Jackson  and  others  on  the  subject  of  stomachal  diges- 
tion. There  is  a  systematic  ohstinacy  occasionally  amongst  Physiologists 
which  requires  time  as  well  as  evidence  for  its  downfall,  and  one  of  the 
first  things  to  be  learned  is  to  disinfect  the  mind  of  all  bias,  which  is  ex- 
tremely diflicult.  Had  I  not  been  associated  with  you  in  our  professional 
experiments  and  with  my  friend,  Professor  Emmet,  in  the  chemical,  I 
have  no  doubt  it  could  have  been  said  that  I  had  determined  to  find  cer- 
tain results,  and  accordingly  I  had  found  them.  You  will,  I  am  sure,  do 
me  the  justice  of  saying  that  I  endeavored  to  observe  fairly. s 

Your  publication,  which  I  hope  will  make  its  appearance  soon,  will  up- 
set, or  ought  to  upset,  this  delusion  on  the  subject  of  digestion,  and  I  will 
back  it  so  far  as  my  feeble  support  can  do  so.  Permit  me  to  recommend 
to  you,  as  a  vehicle  for  publication,  the  American  Journal  of  Medical 
Science,  edited  by  my  friend.  Dr.  Isaac  Hays,  of  Philadelphia,  who  will 
be  most  happy  to  insert  it,  I  am  satisfied.  It  is  in  my  opinion,  and  I  be- 
lieve in  the  opinion  of  the  world  in  general,  the  best  periodical  on  medical 
science  published  in  this  country. 

It  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  from  you  on  this  or  any  other 
subject. 

In  the  meantime  believe  me  to  be,  dear  sir,  with  great  respect  and 
esteem. 

Faithfully  yours, 

ROBLET    DUiSTGLlSOIf. 

To  this  Dr.  Beaumont  replied  promptly,  expressing  the  belief 
that  the  result  of  their  work  would  ultimately  overcome  the  "sys- 
tematic obstinacy'-  of  those  who  took  issue  with  them. 

Washixgtox.  10  Feby.,  1833. 
To  Prof.  Dunglison, 

University  of  Virginia. 
Dear  Sir:     I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  with  pride,  pleasure  and 
satisfaction  yrs.  of  the  29th  ult.,  which  would  have  been  more  promptly 
answered  had  not  the  delay  been  necessary  to  obtain  results  of  the  ex- 


■*  "Beaumont's  Experiment.s."  No.  104.  Plattsburgh  edition.  1833. 
=  "Beaumont's  Experiments."  page  79,  Plattsburgh  edition.  1S33. 


162  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUicnn  Beaumont 

periments  you  suggested.  Your  last  surprised  me  in  the  act  of  complying 
with  your  request,  and,  having  in  part  anticipated  your  last  suggestion 
of  experimenting  with  dilute  muriatic  and  acetic  acids,  I  will  transmit 
them,  imperfect  as  they  be,  and  repeat  the  experiment  according  to  your 
last  suggestion  soon  as  practicable  and  send  you  the  result.  The  flatter- 
ing manner  in  which  you  speak  of  my  feeble  efforts  to  promote  Physio- 
logical science  by  diligent  prosecution  of  my  experiments,  and  your 
readiness  to  aid  me  in  my  prosecution,  is  very  gratifying  indeed  to  my 
feelings,  and  inspires  the  utmost  confidence  in  the  candor  and  correct- 
ness of  your  motives,  fairness  of  your  views,  and  liberality  of  your  senti- 
ments. The  result  of  your  Chemical  analysis  of  the  Bottle  of  Gastric 
juice  is  highly  satisfactory  and  important,  and  shall  be  duly  appreciated 
and  applied.  It  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  obtain  and  send  you  for 
further  analysis  another  bottle  of  Gasti'ic  Juice  as  soon  as  I  can  collect 
it  pure.  Since  you  have  been  here  I  have  seen  the  necessity,  doubled  my 
diligence,  of  presenting  my  experiments  on  different  soluable  aliments 
with  even  greater  minuteness,  if  possible,  than  before,  though  now  sensi- 
ble of  my  inability  to  do  strict  justice  to  the  subject  from  having  so 
plainly  observed  your  pre-eminent  qualifications,  talents,  and  tact  of  easily 
testing  and  readily  finding  correct  and  important  results. 

I  most  cheerfully  submit  to  your  examination  the  products  of  the  ex- 
periments you  suggested  in  yours  of  the  29th  ult.,  together  with  my  field 
notes  (to  borrow  an  expression)  made  on  the  occasion.  I  also  send, 
through  the  kind  agency  of  your  very  good  friend,  Mr.  Trist,  specimens 
of  the  products  of  several  small  and  minute  experiments  on  different 
articles  of  diet,  which,  should  they  be  deemed  of  sufficient  importance,  I 
should  like  to  have  submitted  to  chemical  analysis  and  to  be  informed  of 
the  results.  I  have  just  obtained  the  last  no.  of  the  Am.  Mecll.  and  Physical 
Journal,  and  have  but  hastily  perused  the  review  of  your  recent  valuable 
Physiological  work.  Though  the  reviewer  handles  the  subjects  generally 
with  gloved  fingers,  he  seems  inclined  to  pinch  a  little  on  some  points, 
and  fortunately  that  Stomach  Digestion;  and,  though  the  suggestions  ad- 
vanced by  you  on  that  subject  need  nothing  but  their  own  correctness  to 
support  them,  yet  I  think  with  your  assistance  we  shall  be  able  to  afford 
the  weapons  not  only  to  pary  their  criticisms,  but  to  make  them  recoil 
with  severity,  if  you  choose,  upon  the  authors  themselves,  rendering  them 
effectually  disinfecting  agents  of  the  systematic  obstinacy  of  their  selfish 
minds  and  Pseudo  Physiological  Theories  on  this  subject.  That  [the 
views  and  theories?]  of  the  Philadelphia  Physiologists,  as  some  others,  on 
the  subject  of  Stomach  digestion  and  the  Gastric  juice  are  radically  wrong, 
I  have  not  the  least  doubt,  but  demonstrated  and  multiplied  facts  and 
experiments  to  prove,  of  which  more  hereafter. 

In  accordance  with  your  first  suggestion,  I  took  aa  pts.  of  fresh  secreted 
saliva  and  dilute  Muriatic  acid,  reduced  with  water,  as  nearly  as  I  could 
judge  by  the  sense  of  taste,  to  the  natural  acid  flavor  of  the  gastric  juice, 
and  submitted  to  it  a  proportional  qty.  of  the  following  vegetable  sub- 
stances— an  entire  square  piece — 10  grs.  of  boiled  carrot,  and  also  immersed 


1833 — Beaumont  Reports  Besults  to  Dunglison  163 

the  same  qties.  and  kinds  of  vegetables  in  saliva  and  acetic,  and  diluted 
to  about  the  same  Strength  and  flavor  with  the  muriatic;  and  treated  them 
with  my  other  experiments  on  the  bath  of  100  Fahr.  for  48  hours,  and  then 
took  out  and  weighed  the  respective  pieces.  The  carrot  in  the  muriatic 
mixture  had  lost  nothing,  but  remained  whole  and  entire.  The  parsnip 
had  lost  2  grs.  in  the  acetous  menstrum.  The  fluid  of  both  remained  un- 
altered in  their  soluable  qualities  and  appearance.  After  continuing  them 
on  the  bath,  with  frequent  agitation,  72  hrs.  longer,  the  Parsnip  in  the 
muriatic  menstrum  had  lost  4  grns. — whether  dissolved  or  its  very  soft 
and  tender  substance  merely  diffused  thro  this  fluid,  I  was  not  able  to  de- 
termine. The  carrot  remained  the  same  as  when  put  in.  The  Parsnip 
acetic  mixture  had  lost  6  grns.  and  the  carrot  4,  but  appeared  more  to  be 
masticated  and  diffused  than  dissolved  or  digested.  I  now  mixed  them  all 
together,  and  continued  to  treat  them  on  the  bath  24  hrs.  longer,  at  the 
end  of  which  the  whole  remaining  mass  of  vegetables  weighed  together 
12  grs.  only,  having  lost  one-half  in  that  time.  The  fluid  appeared  now 
little  more  than  chymous,  was  rather  turbid,  and  resembled,  more  than 
anything  else  I  can  compare  it  to,  the  famed  "Philadelphia  vegetable 
soup"  made  of  "two  potatoes  and  an  onion,  boiled  to  smash  in  Yz  qt.  of 
water."  I  send  you  the  product  as  it  is.  Please  examine  for  yourself,  and, 
if  you  choose,  let  me  know  your  conclusion  upon  this  as  on  the  other 
subjects  submitted,  observing  that  after  the  mixture  the  wash  of  the  vege- 
tables become  more  evident  and  rapid.  It  occurred  to  me  to  mix  the  two 
acids  together  flrst,  and  then  observe  their  effect  on  meats.  Accordingly 
I  mixed  equal  parts  of  the  diluted  acids  and  saliva.  Into  3  drachms  oi 
this  mixture  immersed  XX  grs.  lean  broiled  beefsteak  unmasticated,  but 
chopped  fine  with  a  knife,  &  for  a  comparison  put  the  same  qty.  and  kind 
of  meat  Into  3  drachms  Gastric  juice,  and  placed  them  on  the  bath  and 
treated  them  together  for  6  hours.  When  the  meat  in  the  gastric  juice 
was  taken  out  and  filtered  dry,  weighed  2  grs.  only;  that  in  the  artificial 
menstrum  was  not  diminished  in  weight  at  all,  but  had  lost  its  fibrous 
form  and  became  a  jelly-like  mass,  thick  and  tremulous,  like  half  dis- 
solved glue — not  converted  into  anything  like  chyme,  nor  bore  much  re- 
semblance to  the  contents  of  the  gastric  solution.  After  digesting  8  hrs. 
longer  on  the  bath,  the  meat  in  the  gastric  juice  completely  dissolved  and 
that  in  the  acid  menstrum  nearly  so,  a  trace  of  jelly-like  particles  only 
remaining  on  the  filter.  The  fiuids  now  even  a  little  more  similar,  though 
not  alike — that  of  the  gastric  juice  was  opaque,  of  a  light  brown  color, 
and  afforded  a  dark  brownish  sediment  on  standing;  the  other  was  also 
opaque,  of  a  dark  reddish  gray  color,  depositing  no  sediment.  3  drachms 
Infu.  of  gall  added  to  the  gastric  portion  threw  down  a  fine,  loose  reddish 
brown  precipitate,  and  afforded  a  semi-transparent  liquor  of  similar  color. 
3  drachms  of  the  Infu.  added  to  the  acid  mixture  converted  the  whole  into 
loose  coagula  and  suspended  throughout  the  whole  fluid  mass,  becoming 
finer  by  agitation  and  very  slowly  subsiding  towards  the  bottom,  and  af- 
fording a  clear,  transparent,  slightly  yellowish  fluid.  I  send  them  also 
for  examination.     I  would  send  more   similar   experiments,  but  perhaps 


164  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

they  would  not  be  of  sufficient  importance  to  excite  your  interest  or  merit 
your  attention. 

The  Gastric  juice  shall  be  forthcoming  as  soon  as  possible  to  collect  it 
in  quantity  and  quality  sufficient  for  your  purpose. 

I  shall  hasten  the  publication  of  my  experiments  as  fast  as  my  cir- 
cumstances and  abilities  will  permit,  consistently  with  a  view  to  future 
benefit  to  secure  credit  to  myself.  Shall  be  always  happy  to  consult  your 
judgment  relative  to  it,  and  be  ever  grateful  for  your  proffered  assistance 
and  friendly  advice  on  the  subject.  Shall  duly  consider  your  suggestion 
of  making  Dr.  Hays,  of  the  Am.  Journal  of  Med.  Science,  the  medium  of 
my  publication.  I  expect  soon  to  make  an  abstract  report  of  some  of  my 
expts.  to  the  Surgn.  Genl.,  reserving  the  entire  series  for  other  and  future 
arrangements,  which  to  my  limited  ability  seems  an  herculean  labor.  I 
shall  attend  to  the  experiments  suggested  in  your  last  in  due  time,  and 
communicate  the  result  of  my  observations.  I  shall  always  feel  gratified 
and  grateful  for  any  communications  or  suggestions  you  may  be  pleased 
to  make  on  this  or  any  other  subject. 

Please  accept,  Sir,  the  renewed  assurances  of  my  great  respect  and  es- 
teem, and  believe  me, 

Yrs.  truly  and  respectfully, 

Wm.  Beaumont. 

A  few  days  later  this  was  followed  by  another  letter,  entering 
into  further  details  concerning  the  analyses : 

Washixgtox.  Feb.  19,  1833. 
To  Prof.  Dunglison, 

University  of  Virginia. 

Dear  Sir:  Agreeably  to  promise,  I  have  now  the  satisfaction  of  send- 
ing you  another  bottle  of  gastric  juice  for  further  investigation.  I  hope 
it  will  be  safely  received,  and  afford  you  an  opportunity  further  to  ex- 
tend the  highly  important  analysis  so  happily  commenced  with  the  first. 

I  have  also  with  peculiar  pleasure  carefully  experimented  upon  the 
masticated  meat  and  gelatin,  as  suggested  in  your  last  letter,  and  here- 
with send  the  result  of  my  observation.  I  hope  you  will  excuse  the  awk- 
ward and  unscientific  manner  in  which  they  were  made  and  here  at- 
tempted to  be  described.  To  develop  valuable  facts  is  my  chief  aim  and 
ambition,  and,  if  I  communicate  such  to  you,  even  in  my  own  style,  I  am 
confident  they  will  be  duly  appreciated  and  kindly  disposed  of  to  the 
best  advantage;  and  I  have  the  peculiar  satisfaction,  and  not  only  this 
satisfaction,  but  am  happy  and  proud  to  assure  you,  so  far  as  I  have  read 
and  understand  your  very  valuable  treatise  on  Physiology,  that  the  prin- 
ciples and  suggestions  and  reasoning  on  the  subject  of  the  Gastric  func- 
tions and  fluids  are  generally  most  conflrmed  by  my  experiments,  so  far  as 
I  have  been  capable  of  observing. 

I  am  well  pleased  indeed  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  assist  in  verifying 
the  correctness  of  your  theory,  and  irrefutably  establishing  physiological 
facts  which  have  for  ages  divided  the  opinions  and  distracted  views  of 


.  1833 — Official  Report  to  Surgeon-General  165 

Physiologists,  since  the  latter  times  have  become  fashionable  sources  of 
speculation,  error  or  professional  obstinacy.  I  shall  continue  most  cheer- 
fully to  receive  and  faithfully  attend  to  any  suggestions  you  may  be 
pleased  to  make  while  I  remain  here  and  at  N.  Y.,  if  you  see  fit  to  com- 
municate to  me  there.  I  expect  to  leave  this  for  that  city  about  the  5  or 
6th  of  March. 

The  small  square  Phials  contain  the  products  of  the  gelatine  treated 
with  Gastric  and  Dilute  muriatic  and  acetic  acids,  agreeably  to  your  sug- 
gestion. The  phials  containing  the  similar  products  of  the  masticated 
meat  accidentally  got  broken  and  spilt.  I  send  the  result  of  my  observa- 
tions, which  I  hope  you  will  sufficiently  comprehend.  .  .  .  Infusion  of 
Nut  galls  added  to  the  solution  in  the  gastric  juice  threw  down  a  fine 
reddish  brown  precipitate,  and  afforded  an  opaque  fluid  of  a  similar  color. 
The  same  quantity  of  the  Infusion  added  to  the  acid  mixture  converted 
the  whole  into  loose  coagula,  and  slowly  threw  down  a  more  copious  pre- 
cipitate and  left  a  clearer  and  thinner  fluid,  nearly  transparent. 

I  took  the  same  quantity  of  dry  gelatine,  and  put  them  into  the  same 
kind  and  measures  of  gastric  juice  and  dilute  acids,  and  treated  them 
after  the  same  manner  of  the  meat.  In  5i/^  hours  the  gelatine  in  the 
gastric  was  all  dissolved. 

The  precipitates  I  have  not  disturbed  to  ascertain  the  deflnite  weights. 
If  it  be  of  importance,  it  may  be  done  after  you  remove  it.  Please  direct 
to  me  at  this  place  till  the  last  of  this  month — after  that  to  N.  Y. 

I  am.  Sir,  with  much  esteem. 

Respectfully  yours,  etc., 

William  Beaumont. 

In  the  early  part  of  March  Dr.  Beaumont  made  the  official 
"abstract  report"  of  his  work  to  the  surgeon-general,  previously 
mentioned  in  his  letter  to  Professor  Dunglison.  This  report  was 
prefaced  by  a  general  statement  leading  up  to  the  experiments, 
which  is  so  typical  of  the  man,  and  which  reveals  so  well  the  con- 
scientious spirit  in  which  he  carried  on  his  investigation,  that  T 
can  not  desist  from  reproducing  it  in  part : 

With  an  honest  desire  to  contribute,  if  I  may,  a  mite  to  the  promotion 
of  Medical  Science,  and  in  accordance  with  your  wish  and  the  general 
views  of  the  Department  under  which  I  act,  I  have  the  honor  very  re- 
spectfully to  submit  for  consideration  the  following  experiments  and  ob- 
servations upon  the  gastric  fluid  and  functions  of  Digestion  as  made  upon 
Alexis  Saint  Martin.     .     .     . 

He  then  describes  the  difficulties  and  vicissitudes  under  which 
he  had  worked  during  the  past  six  years,  with  special  reference  to 
Alexis'  inconstancy  and  idiosyncrasies,  and  proceeds: 

These,  with  other  cases  not  in  my  power  to  obviate  and  control,  have 
prevented  more  satisfactory  results  perhaps,  and  delayed  an  earlier  com- 


166  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ViUiam  Beaumont 

munication  of  the  subject.  Having  him  now  reengaged  for  a  season,  I 
have  the  satisfaction  of  presenting  to  your  favorable  consideration  the 
following  experiments  and  observations  as  the  result  of  my  faithful, 
though  feeble  abilities,  but  diligent  efforts,  to  contribute  to  the  advance- 
ment of  Physiological  improvement. 

From  the  vast  number  of  treatises,  observations  and  experiments  that 
have  been  made  on  the  subject  of  Digestion,  almost  from  time  imme- 
morial to  the  present  day,  by  the  most  illustrious  and  learned  of  the 
ancients,  and  the  wisest  and  ablest  Professors  and  Physiologists  of  mod- 
ern times,  it  may  perhaps  be  thought  that  these  experiments  and  ob- 
servations are  altogether  gratuitous,  unnecessary  and  useless,  many  hav- 
ing already  been  communicated  to  the  profession  in  far  more  scientific 
and  satisfactory  forms.  But  following  the  examples  and  guided  by  the 
precepts  of  the  most  eminent  and  useful  of  the  profession,  and  having  so 
rare  and  singular  an  oppoi-tunity,  I  cannot,  in  justice  to  my  views  of  the 
importance  of  the  subject,  omit  communicating  such  facts  and  observa- 
tions as  have  been  in  my  power  to  collect,  however  imperfect  and  unim- 
portant they  may  appear,  or  feeble  my.  ability  to  do  it  satisfactorily. 

But  in  offering  the  following  I  can  most  truly  assert  that  no  favorite 
theory,  system,  or  hypothesis,  preconceived  opinions  or  partiality  for 
popular  authority  have  had  any  influence  in  making  or  recording  them. 

A  mere  tyro  in  science,  with  a  mind  free  from  every  bias,  I  commenced 
them,  as  it  were,  by  accident,  and  continued  desultorily  to  prosecute 
them,  without  regard  to  any  particular  arrangement,  or  the  confirmation 
of  anything  save  plain  and  palpable  truths  and  physiological  facts,  aiming 
singly  at  the  more  perfect  development  of  the  nature  of  the  Gastric  juice 
and  process  of  Digestion  in  the  human  Stomach,  subjects  which  neither 
time,  nor  talents,  nor  labor,  nor  learning  has  yet  satisfactorily  illustrated. 

If.  in  any  degree,  I  succeed  in  thus  contributing  to  the  cause  of  science, 
I  shall  be  satisfied  with  having  bestowed  my  time  and  patience  upon  the 
subject,  simply  even  to  afford  the  materials  for  the  Physiologists  to  culti- 
vate and  improve. 

Ill  the  meantime  Dr.  Beaumont's  fuiiough  had  expired,  and  he 
was  ordered  to  New  York  city — doubtless  at  his  own  suggestion, 
for  there  seemed  no  particular  need  of  his  services  there  at  that 
time.  H'e  probably  thought  that  he  would  be  able  to  gather  some 
additional  information  from  New  York  scientists.  In  order  to 
make  it  possible  to  have  Alexis  with  him  and  have  his  salary  con- 
tinued, a  special  order  was  issued  from  the  adjutant's  office  to  the 
effect  that  "a  furlough  of  three  months  from  the  date  hereof  is 
hereby  granted  to  Sergeant  Alexis  St.  ]\Iartin.  of  the  detachment 
of  orderlies  at  the  seat  of  government. ' ' 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  there  a  letter  came  from  Dr.  Dunglison, 
in  which  it  is  interesting  to  note  that,  far  from  being  able  to  "fix 


1833 — Precise  Constituents  Not  Determined  167 

with  certainty  .  .  .  the  other  great  ingredients,"  he  had  arrived 
at  the  conclusions  "that  the  precise  constituents  of  the  gastric  juice 
may  never  be  accurately  determined. ' ' 

University  of  Virginia,  March  23,  1833. 
To  Dr.  Beaumont,  United  States  Army, 

New  York. 
Dear  Sir:  I  am  glad  to  find  that  your  ardor  in  the  prosecution  of  your 
interesting  experiments  continues  unabated.  Within  these  last  few  days  I 
have  received  the  letter  and  parcel  you  kindly  sent  me  by  Mr.  Rives, 
which  were  delayed  from  some  cause  which  I  have  not  yet  learned.  I 
thank  you  much  for  your  valuable  present  of  the  gastric  [fluid]  and  the 
results  of  some  of  your  other  investigations.  They  prove  that  the  fluid 
is  not  simply  muriatic  and  acetic  acids  in  dilution,  as  I  knew  before.  It 
is  probable,  too,  that  the  precise  constituents  that  exist  besides  these 
Acids  may  never  be  accurately  determined.  I  forgot  to  suggest  to  you  in 
my  last  to  assimilate  your  menstrum  still  more  closely  to  the  gastric 
fluid  by  adding  a  small  quantity  of  Phosphate  of  soda,  and  seeing  whether 
the  soluable  powers  were  at  all  modified.  In  the  compound  gastric  fluid 
the  organic  constituents,  I  have  no  doubt,  modifies  the  chemical  action  in 
a  way  that  cannot  be  done  by  any  of  our  artificial  menstrums.  Still,  your 
experiments  appear  to  me  to  tend  to  the  result  at  which  we  previously 
seemed  to  arrive — that  the  main  gastric  action  is  one  of  solution,  not  of 
chemical  conversion.  I  should  have  been  glad  if  you  had  separated  by  the 
filter  the  precipitate  thrown  down  by  the  Bichloride  before  I  added  the 
Infusion  of  galls,  taking  care  to  add  no  more  Bichloride  of  mercury  than 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  throw  down  the  Albumen — that  is,  adding  it 
only  so  long  as  a  precipitate  is  thrown  down. 

On  adding  the  infusion  of  galls  to  the  gastric  solution  of  gelatine,  and 
making  a  similar  experiment  with  gelatine  dissolved  simply  in  water  to 
which  no  Bichloride  has  been  added,  and  weighing  the  precipitate  formed 
in  the  two  cases,  you  would  be  able  to  see  whether  as  much  gelatine 
remained  in  the  gastric  solution  as  was  contained  in  the  aqueous  solution, 
or  whether  a  part  might  not  have  experienced  conversion.  If  you  have 
any  Bichloride  remaining  in  the  solution  after  precipitating  the  Albumen, 
it  would  affect  the  Nutgalls.  Perhaps  you  will  be  good  enough  to  repeat 
your  experiments  with  this  view.  I  will  do  so  if  I  have  gastric  juice 
enough.  I  feel  anxious,  however,  to  retain  a  little  as  a  specimen  liquor, 
if  it  will  keep.  A  portion  of  that  which  I  brought  with  me  from  Washing- 
ton, and  which  was  left  at  the  bottom  of  a  bottle,  is  undergoing  decompo- 
sition, and  I  intend  to  see  how  far  it  retains  the  property  of  affecting  the 
work  of  Digestion.    Have  you  tried  this  experiment? 

I  am  m_uch  gratified  to  learn  that  you  are  pleased  with  my  work  on 
Human  Physiology.  It  has  been  pleasing  to  me  to  discover  that  many  of 
your  Experiments  on  Digestion  are  confirmatory  of  my  positions,  especially 
as  opposite  Doctrines  prevail  so  much  amongst  those  who  have  not  re- 
flected deeply  on  the  matter. 


168  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiam  Beaumont 

My  object  in  that  work  was  to  endeavoi-  to  sift  truth  from  the  large 
mass  of  "false  facts"  which  we  possess,  and.  if  I  have  succeeded,  I  shall 
have  attained  the  object  of  my  Ambition. 

Dr.  Hays,  the  Editor  of  the  American  Journal  of  lledical  Science,  has 
requested  me  to  say  to  you  that  if  you  determine  to  publish  the  results  of 
your  experiments  in  his  Journal,  he  will  place  a  number  of  copies  in 
pamphlet  form  in  your  hands.  I  promised  to  mention  the  proposition  to 
you,  but  I  presume  your  facts  will  form  a  volume. 

I  shall  be  very  anxious  to  see  the  results  of  your  labors.  I  am  now  en- 
gaged in  a  work  on  the  Influence  of  Physical  Agents  on  Human  Health, 
and  I  expect  on  the  subject  of  Diet  to  obtain  much  useful  information 
from  your  publication.  It  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  from  you 
at  all  times. 

Believe  me.  dear  sir. 

Very  truly  yours, 

ROBLEY    DUXGLISOX. 

After  a  six  weeks"  sojourn  in  New  York  city.  Dr.  Beanuiont 
wrote  the  surgeon-general  on  April  16th : 

I  expect  to  leave  the  city  to  visit  my  family  at  the  North  in  a  few  days, 
and  probably  before  I  can  receive  an  answer  to  this.  Will  you,  therefore, 
advise  the  communications  on  this  and  other  subjects  to  be  addressed  to 
me  at  Plattsburgh.  N.  Y.,  till  further  advised?  Dr.  Russell  will  attend  to 
my  official  duties  during  my  absence.  I  shall  endeavor  to  prosecute  my 
experimental  and  physiological  duties  to  better  advantage  for  a  few  weeks 
there  than  is  practicable  to  do  here.  I  doubt  not  this  measure  will  meet 
your  approbation.     .     .     . 

I  have  been  unable  to  do  much  at  accurate  experiments  and  observa- 
tions since  I  came  here,  so  numerous  and  increasing  are  the  calls  of  the 
curious,  the  social,  the  scientific  and  the  professional.  Have  not  yet  been 
able  to  complete  the  series  I  had  on  hand  when  I  left  Washington,''  but  I 
am  determined  to  do  it  soon,  however,  if  I  even  have  to  shut  myself  up 
with  Alexis  in  a  convent,  or  retire  to  some  seclusion  in  the  country.  My 
official  duties  are  very  light,  and  would  not  interfere  at  all  with  my  ex- 
periments, could  I  avoid  the  vexatious  social  intercourse  to  which  I  am 
perpetually  exposed  in  this  City.  It  is  an  unfavorable  place  for  the  pursuit 
of  physiological  inquiries  and  experiments.     .     .     . 

The  professional  gentlemen  of  this  City  have  quite  too  much  personal, 
political  and  commercial  business  on  hand  to  permit  them  to  turn  their 
attention  to  animal  and  physiological  chemistry,  whose  high  honours  and 
rewards  to  them  are  to  be  the  results.  Their  curiosity  once  gratified, 
they  are  silent  and  aloof  from  the  subject. 

Disappointed  in  his  efforts  to  obtain  any  new  light  in  New  Y(»rl< 
citv  on  the  chemistry  of  the  gastric  juice,  he  endeavored  to  enlist 


8  The  third  series  of  experiments,  conducted  largely  in  Washington,  was  com- 
pleted in  New  York  city. 


1833 — Professor  Be^ijamin  Silliman  169 

the  cooperation  of  Professor  Benjamin  Silliman,  of  Yale  Uni- 
versity/ and  with  this  object  in  view  made  a  special  trip  to  New 
Haven.  He  had  only  recently  returned  from  this  visit,  and 
promptly  wrote  the  surgeon-general : 

I  have  recently  made  a  visit  to  New  Haven,  Conn.,  and  submitted  a 
pMal  of  gastric  juice  to  Prof.  Silliman  for  tentative  examination  and 
anaiyStsT^'He,  with  all  the  other  Professors  and  Fellows  of  that  institution, 
seemed  to  highly  appreciate  and  earnestly  expressed  their  conviction  of 
the  importance  of  the  subject,  and  evince  an  earnest  disposition  to  engage 
with  much  zeal  and  sincerity  in  promoting  the  investigation  of  the  subject. 
Professor  Silliman  suggested  the  propriety  and  importance  of  sending  a 
bottle  of  gastric  juice  to  Professor  Berzelius,  of  Stockholm,  as  "the  man" 
(to  use  his  own  expression),  "of  all  others,  best  qualified  to  investigate 
the  subject  of  such  deep  interest  to  mankind,"  and  very  kindly  offered  to 
propose  the  subject,  being  in  direct  correspondence  with  him.  Has  given 
me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  Swedish  Consul  at  this  place,  and  sent 
his  communication  to  Professor  Berzelius  for  me  to  forward  with  the 
juice  and  a  concise  statement  of  some  of  the  most  interesting  circum- 
stances of  the  case.  I  have  about  12  collected,  and  when  I  have  got  4  or  6 
more  of  the  pure  gastric  fluid,  shall  hand  [it]  over  to  the  Consul,  to  be 
forwarded  to  the  Swedish  professor,  with  the  expectation  of  receiving 
most  important  results  from  his  investigation  and  analysis  in  the  course 
of  three  or  four  months.  Professor  Silliman  will  in  the  meantime  attend 
to  the  analysis  of  what  he  has,  and  give  me  the  results  of  his  labours. 

Benjamin  Silliman,  the  elder, "^  held  at  this  time  the  chair  of 
chemistry  and  natural  history  at  Yale  University,  and  was  a  lead- 
ing, if  not  the  most  prominent,  chemist  of  his  day  in  America.  It 
was  natural,  therefore,  that  Beaumont  should  appeal  to  him  for 


■  Benjamin  Silliman,  Sr.,  son  of  General  Gold  Selleck  Silliman,  was  born  on 
AugTist  8,  1779,  in  New  Stratford  Society,  where  his  family  had  lately  taken 
refuge  on  the  alarm  caused  by  the  British  raid  along-  this  coast.  He  was  grad- 
uated at  Yale  College  in  1796,  and  was  tutor  from  1799  to  1804.  In  the  mean- 
time he  had  read  law  with  the  Hon,  Simeon  Baldwin,  of  New  Haven,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1802,  His  life  work,  however,  was  directed  into  entirely 
different  channels  by  the  establishment  of  a  chair  of  chemistry  and  natural 
history  at  Yale,  There  being  no  eminent  chemists  in  the  country,  the  position 
was  offered  Silliman,  with  the  understanding  that  he  would  be  given  time  and 
opportunity  to  qualify  himself  for  the  position.  Thorough  in  all  things  that  he 
undertook,  he  became  perhaps  the  most  famous  chemist  and  geologist  of  his 
day,  delivering  his  first  lecture  at  the  age  of  24,  Within  a  short  time  he  became 
so  generally  and  favorably  known  as  a  lecturer  that  he  received  invitations  from 
various  cities  throughout  the  United  States,  Through  these  lecture  tours,  which 
he  now  made  almost  annually,  he  did  much  to  popularize  science  in  America. 
He  founded  the  American  Journal  of  Science,  afterward  Silliman's  Journal,  in  1818, 
published  an  edition  of  "Bakewell's  Geologj'"  in  1829,  and  a  two-volume  text 
book  on  chemistry  in  1830.  He  was  well  known  abroad,  and  was  in  regular  cor- 
respondence with  some  of  the  leading  scientists  of  Europe,  such  as  Berzelius, 
Humboldt,  Carl  Ritter,  Murchison,  and  others.  After  half  a  century  in  Yale,  he 
resigned  at  74  years  of  age,  and  was  followed  by  his  son,  Benjamin  Silliman,  Jr. 
He  died  in  1864  in  his  86th  year,  interested  in  science  and  national  affairs  to  the 
last.  (Yale  Portrait  Catalogue,  1892;  "Pioneers  of  Science  in  America."  by  Wm. 
Jay  Youmans,  1896.) 


170 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 


Professor  Benjamin  Silliman,   Sr.     (From  an  original  painting  by  Jocelyn,  at 
Yale  University.) 


aid,  though  he  know  full  well  that   Silliuiau   was  in  no  sense   a 
physiological  chemist. 

Soon  after  the  visit  to  New  Haven,  Dr.  Silliman,  inclosing  copies 
of  two  communications,  one  to  Professor  Jacob  Berzelius  and  the 
other  to  Mr.  Gahn,  the  Swedish  consul,  wrote : 

Yoii  will  be  so  good  as  to  deliver  the  enclosed  letters  to  Mr.  Gahn  at 
your  convenience,  having  previously  read  my  letter  to  Professor  Berzelius, 
and  noticed  the  obligations  which  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  lay  upon  you. 

I  would  recommend  sending  a  pretty  liberal  supply  of  the  fluid — if  there 


1833 — Silliman  Suggests  Berzelius  .  171 

were  even  a  pint,  so  much  the  better.  Allow  me  to  suggest  that  one  of 
Lynch  &  Clark's  pint  Congress  water  bottles,  carefully  marked,  sealed 
and  capped  with  strong  leather  and  twine,  and  then  cased  in  tin,  with 
the  lid  soldered  on,  that  no  one  may  open  it,  will  afford  all  necessary 
security. 

I  will  attempt,  as  soon  as  my  engagements  will  allow,  some  tentative 
experiments  on  the  gastric  fluid  which  you  left  with  me,  and  I  shall  hope 
to  hear  from  you  again  on  this  interesting  subject. 

Silliman 's  letter  to  Berzelius  ^vas  for  the  purpose  of  introducing 
Beaumont  and  presenting  tlie  subject  matter  under  discussion. 

Yale  College, 
New  HA^-EX,  U.  S.  Ama.,  April  10,  1833. 
Prof.  Jaco'b  Berzelius, 

Stockholm,  Siceden. 

Dear  Sie:  I  had  the  honor  to  write  to  you  on  the  5th  day  of  December 
to  thank  3^ou  for  the  first  Ave  volumes  of  your  chemistry,  and  I  have  now 
the  pleasure  to  thank  you  for  the  sixth  volume,  which  arrived  some  weeks 
since. 

My  more  immediate  object,  however,  is  to  invite  your  attention  to  a 
subject  which  I  trust  you  will  think  to  possess  no  common  interest.  It 
is  nothing  less  than  the  gastric  fluid,  obtained  in  quantity  and  apparently 
in  purity  from  a  healthy  man,  who  more  than  ten  years  ago,  by  the  acci- 
dental discharge  of  a  musket,  obtained  an  artificial  orifice  to  his  stomach, 
which  remains  open  and  admits  of  the  introduction  of  a  tube  of  caout- 
.chouc,  by  which  early  in  the  morning  the  gastric  fluid  is  extracted.  A 
sufficient  quantity  of  it  for  analysis  will,  at  my  request,  be  transmitted  to 
you  by  Dr.  Beaumont,  an  eminent  Surgeon  of  the  American  Army,  who 
took  charge  of  the  wounded  man,  effected  his  cure,  and  has  ever  since 
kept  him  in  his  military  family  (for  ten  years),  and  has  carefully  ob- 
served the  phenomenon  of  this  extraordinary  case.  Dr.  Beaumont,  now 
resident  at  No.  110  Broadway,  New  York,  wall  transmit  to  you  a  more 
particular  statement  of  the  case,  and  you  may  implicitly  rely  upon  his 
statement.  Only  one  fact  need  be  mentioned  to  prove  that  the  fluid  ob- 
tained from  this  man's  stomach  is  really  the  long-sought  gastric  fluid — 
namely,  that  when  animal  muscle,  farinaceous  matter  and  any  articles  of  . 
food  whatever  are  immersed  in  it,  it  performs  the  process  of  digestion, 
while  this  fluid  is,  by  itself,  imputrescible  and  undergoes  no  change  by 
keeping  some  months  and  perhaps  longer.  There  are  many  very  curious 
circumstances  connected  with  this  case,  and  the  most  important  I  trust 
Dr.  Beaumont  will  communicate  when  he  transmits  the  fluid  through  your 
worthy  consul,  Mr.  Gahn,  of  New  York. 

My  motive  for  troubling  you  with  this  affair  is  that  I  am  anxious  that 
a  subject  of  such  deep  interest  to  mankind  should  be  investigated  by 
(pardon  me  for  saying)  the  man,  of  all  others,  best  qualified  for  the  task. 
I  should  be  very  desirous  that  Dr.  Beaumont  or  myself  might  receive  the 
result  as  soon  as  convenient. 


172  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^Y^JI^am  Beaumont 

In  the  meantime  I  shall  make  a  few  tentative  experiments,  but  I  can 
not  flatter  myself  that  I  shall  discover  the  peculiar  agent  which  works 
such  wonders  in  the  animal  system. 

Hoping  that  your  health  is  good,  and  wishing  you  every  blessing,  I  re- 
main, dear  sir, 

Most  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

B.    SiLLIJIAX. 

The  note  to  ]\Ir.  Gahn  simply  requested  his  idnd  offices  in  the 
prompt  and  careful  delivery  of  the  bottle  of  gastric  juice  to  Pro- 
fessor Berzelius. 

Dr.  Beaumont  forthwith  collected  a  ciuantity  of  fluid,  which  he 
delivered  to  Wr.  Gahn,  together  with  a  package  of  books  and  the 
following  letter : 

United  States  of  America, 
City  of  New  Yokk,  17th  April,  1833. 
Prof.  Jacob  Berzelius. 

Stockhohn .  Siceden. 

Sir:  I  do  myself  the  honor,  at  the  suggestion  of  your  worthy  and  sci- 
entific friend  and  correspondent.  Prof.  Silliman,  of  transmitting  for  your 
consideration  the  accompanying  papers  and  a  quantity  of  pure  gastric 
juice  taken  from  the  Stomach  of  a  man  in  perfect  health  and  vigor,  and 
doubt  not  the  importance  of  the  subject  and  the  interest  it  may  excite 
will  be  suflficient  apology  for  thus  obtruding  upon  your  notice.  Profr. 
Silliman's  communication  will  suggest  to  you  the  general  nature  and  im- 
portance of  the  subject. 

From  the  accompanying  number  of  the  Medical  Recorder,  Page  14th  and 
sequel,  you  may  learn  the  origin  and  early  history  of  the  case,  and  in  the 
following  pages  of  this  sheet  I  shall  endeavor  to  give  you  a  concise  view 
of  what  has  been  seen  and  done  by  way  of  experiments  and  observation  on 
the  Gastric  fluid  and  functions  of  Digestion.  .  .  .  [Describes  the  acci- 
dent and  the  nature  of  the  wound.] 

The  Gastric  juice  I  sent  you  is  also  extracted  this  way  through  an 
appropriate  caoutchouc  tube;  not  in  free  and  abundant  quantities,  but  by 
slow  distillations  from  the  very  minute  papillae  of  the  surface  of  the 
villous  membrane — requiring  much  time,  patience  and  address  to  obtain 
it  in  small  quantity.  Not  more  than  li^  or  2  oz.  can  be  extracted  after 
fasting  for  any  period,  and  even  this  quantity  requires  2.5,  30,  or  more 
minutes  for  its  extraction.  Numerous  experiments  and  observations  have 
been  made  in  this  case  within  the  last  two  or  three  years  upon  the  pro- 
cess of  digestion  and  the  chymefication  of  different  kinds  of  aliments,  both 
in  the  Stomach  and  out  of  it.  The  relative  solubility  in  this  Gastric  fluid 
of  many  kinds  of  alimentary  substances,  both  animal  and  vegetable,  have 
been  fairly  tested,  the  comparative  time  and  different  facility  of  chymefi- 
cation ascertained,  and  the  natural  and  varying  temperature  of  the  sys- 
tem determined  by  accurate  observations  of  the  Thermometer,  placed  in 


1833 — Beaumont's  Statement  to  Berzelius  173 

the  cavity  of  the  Stomach,  during  abstinence  and  repletion.  Various 
kinds  of  alimentary  substances  have  been  submitted  to  the  action  of  this 
fluid,  and  it  is  found  capable  of  completely  dissolving  them  all,  out  of  the 
stomach,  when  contained  in  a  glass  phial  and  placed  upon  a  sand  bath  of 
the  temperature  of  the  Stomach — 100°  Fahr.  Even  solid  bone,  cartilage, 
tendon  down  to  the  softest  textured  aliments  are  completely  chymefied  • 
and  dissolved  when  submitted  to  the  Gastric  juice  in  bottles  and  kept  agi- 
tated in  a  temperature  equal  to  the  natural  warmth  of  the  stomach;  vary- 
ing, however,  in  rapidity  and  perfection  in  proportion  to  the  healthfulness 
of  the  secretion,  purity  of  the  gastric  fluid,  and  the  solidity,  quality  and 
peculiar  nature  of  the  aliment.  Thus  artificial  chymefication  of  many 
kinds  of  food  in  this  peculiar  fluid  has  been  fairly  demonstrated^its  pow- 
erfully solvent  and  antiseptic  properties  clearly  ascertained  and  proven. 
But  its  accurate  chemical  analysis  has  not  yet  been  accomplished,  though 
several  quantities  have  been  submitted  to  some  of  the  most  eminent  prac- 
tical chemists  of  the  United  States.  None  have  yet  been  able  to  obtain 
complete  and  satisfactory  results. — Profr.  Robley  Dunglison,  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Virginia,  is  the  only  one  who  has  fairly  approximated  or  made, 
returns  of  anything  useful  and  important  on  this  subject.  Profr.  Silliman 
has  now,  for  the  first  time,  a  quantity  under  examination,  from  the  in- 
vestigation of  which  highly  important  results  are  anticipated. 

For  the  5  or  6  months  last  past  I  have  been  prosecuting  a  series  of  ex- 
periments and  observations  on  the  subject  of  Digestion  by  this  Gastric 
fluid  under  the  patronage  of  the  Medical  Departments  of  the  Government, 
the  results  of  which  are  now  preparing,  and  will  probably  be  published  in 
the  course  of  the  ensuing  autumn  or  winter,  or  so  soon  as  an  accurate  and 
satisfactory  analysis  of  this  fluid,  if  it  be  practicable,  can  be  obtained. 

Should  the  subject  be  worthy  of  your  notice,  and  the  accompanying 
fluids  and  documents  merit  your  attention,  and  you  be  so  happy  as  to 
succeed  in  obtaining  satisfactory  analysis  of  it,  I  do  most  earnestly  and 
respectfully  desire  and  shall  be  greatly  obliged  to  you  to  communicate 
the  results  of  your  investigations,  soon  as  convenient,  either  to  Profr. 
Silliman,  at  New  Haven,  Ct.,  or  to  me,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  by  doing 
which  you  will  doubtless  confer  a  signal  benefit  on  the  American  Medical 
public,  greatly  promote  the  cause  of  science,  and  confer  honor  and  en- 
during obligation  upon 

Your  most  respectful  and  obedient  servant, 

Wm.  Beaumo>-t. 

P.  S.  The  man  will  continue  with  me.  Should  more  of  the  fluid  be  re- 
quired to  complete  the  investigation  and  analysis,  it  will  be  rapidly  trans- 
mitted upon  the  earliest  indication  from  you.  Any  suggestion  you  may 
please  to  make  will  be  happily  reed,  and  attented  to. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

1833-1834. 

Filled  with  great  anticipations  of  the  results  of  Berzelius' 
investigations,  he  now  left  for  Plattsbnrgh  with  Alexis  to  visit  his 
family  for  a  few^  weeks,  and  at  the  same  time  to  get  away  from  the 
bustle  of  a  large  city,  in  order  to  arrange  his  data  and  prepare  for 
the  publication  of  his  book.  While  in  Plattsburgh  he  found  that 
his  cousin.  Dr.  Samuel  Beaumont,  was  able  to  render  him  material 
assistance  in  his  Avork,  and  he  returned  to  New  York  much  pleased 
with  the  results  of  his  visit.  In  the  meantime  Alexis  had  left  him 
and  returned  to  Canada  on  account  of  the  death  of  one  of  his 
children,  with  the  promise,  however,  that  he  would  come  back  to 
Plattsburgh  in  the  near  future.  On  Dr.  Beaumont's  return  to 
New  York  he  wa-ote  to  Dr.  Lovell  (June  1,  1833)  : 

I  have  a  few  days  since  returned  from  a  visit  to  my  family  at  Platts- 
biirgli,  where  I  have  spent  several  weeks  very  pleasantly,  and  I  believe 
advantageously  as  respects  facilitating  the  publication  of  the  experi- 
ments. I  believe  no  detriment  has  occurred  to  the  government  nor  dissat- 
isfaction felt  by  the  officers  of  the  Dept.  in  consequence  of  my  absence.  I 
found  much  greater  facilities  afforded  for  writing  out  my  notes  and  pre- 
paring the  book  for  the  press  at  Plattsburgh  than  in  this  city.     .     .     . 

My  cousin,  Dr.  Samuel  Beaumont,  having  formerly  served  a  regular 
apprenticeship,  and,  for  some  time  previous  to  taking  up  the  study  and 
practice  of  medicine,  followed  the  business  of  printing  and  publishing,  is 
well  qualified,  and  afforded  me  great  and  important  assistance,  without 
which  I  should  have  labored  under  great  embarrassment  from  my  own 
ignorance  of  such  business.  We  have  arranged  a  plan  nearly  of  the  one 
you  suggested,  and  have  now  a  rough  MS.  written  out,  sufficient,  with  the 
experiments,  to  make  about  300  printed  pages,  8vo.  This  is  to  be  cor- 
rected and  copied  for  the  type,  and  will  require  our  united  industry  and 
application  to  execute  it  properly  in  three  or  four  weeks.  I  find  it  an  im- 
mense job  to  make  a  book,  and  I  heartily  wish  it  were  done  and  publicly 
approved  of  and  well  sold,  and  I  were  snugly  established  at  the  Arsenal 
near  St.  Louis  in  regular  performance  of  my  official  duties  again. 

In  the  same  letter  he  suggested  that,  since  his  duties  in  New 
York  were  "little  or  nothing,  excepting  examining  recruits,"  which 
could  be  performed  by  others  as  well,  he  would  like  to  be  trans- 
ferred to  Plattsburgh  or  Burlington  to  act  as  recruiting  officer. 
Here  his  book  could  be  published  as  well  as  at  New  York  or  Phila- 

174 


1833-1834 — Concerning  Publication  of  Book 


175 


delphia,  and  he  could  at  the  same  time  have  the  assistance  of  his 
cousin,  which  would  enable  him  to  finish  the  work  in  three  or  four 
months.  Dr.  Lovell  replied  that  the  plan  suited  him  admirably  if 
General  Scott  raised  no  objections,  and  added : 

Mr.  Livingston,!  who  will  soon  go  to  Paris,  and  who  has  always  taken  a 
great  interest  in  the  experiments,  is  extremely  desirous  that  you  and 
Alexis  should  go  there,  and  told  me  yesterday  that  he  had  no  doubt  of 
finding  plenty  of  people  there  who  would  gladly  pay  all  expenses,  and  that 
he  would  attend  to  it  as  soon  as  we  authorized  him  to  do  so.  I  proposed 
to  send  your  book  to  him  as  soon  as  published,  on  which  they  could  make 


Dr.    Samuel    Beaumont. 
Fuller  Tuttle.) 


(From   an   old    wood   cut.     Courtesy   of   Mrs.    George 


their  propositions,  if  inclined  to  do  so,  so  that  I  would  make  the  necessary 
arrangements  to  have  Alexis  if  you  should  go.  Let  me  hear  from  you  and 
know  what  arrangements  you  propose,  in  order  to  enable  you  to  return 
to  Plattsburgh.  If  there  should  be  no  objection  on  the  part  of  General 
Scott,  I  should  think  the  best  way  would  be  for  you  to  go,  as  you  did 
before. 

AVithin  a  few  days  Beaumont  informed  Lovell  that  he  had  ob- 
tained General  Scott's  permission  to  make  the  suggested  change, 
and  wrote : 

I  applied  in  the  latter  part  of  May  to  Mr.  Cooper  for  an  extension  of 
Alexis'  furlough,  but  have  not  yet  heard  anything  from  him.  Will  you 
prompt  him  to  let  me  know  the  result?     If  his  furlough  and  enlistment  can 


1  Edward  Livingston  was  about  to  leave  for  France  to  take  up  his  duties  as 
minister  plenipotentiary. 


176  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  M'iUiam  BeaiDiiont 

be  consistently  continued,  it  will  help  to  relieve  me  from  the  heavy  ex- 
pense I  am  constantly  incurring  on  his  account.  His  family  being  sick, 
and  one  of  his  children  having  died  while  we  were  in  Plattsburgh,  and  he 
became  very  anxious  to  see  them.  I  yielded  to  his  solicitude  and  suffered 
him  to  go  and  take  care  of  the  surviving  ones,  and  he  staid  longer  than  I 
expected;  but  has  now  come  back  again  and  is  in  Plattsburg  with  my 
family,  where  I  hope  soon  to  be  again  putting  in  and  taking  out  those 
little  bags  of  food,  and  to  complete  the  last  series  of  experiments.  I  shall 
engage  him  again  for  three  or  five  years  if  he  will  agree,  of  which 
I  expect  there  is  no  doubt.  He  always  has  been  pleased  with  the  idea  of 
going  to  France.  I  feel  most  gratified  at  the  expression  of  Mr.  Living- 
ston's desire  that  we  should  visit  Paris,  and  shall  duly  consider  the  inter- 
est he  takes  in  the  subject,  and  make  the  best  arrangements  I  can  to 
meet  your  views  and  his.  Will  consult  you  again  on  the  subject  when 
further  advanced.  Shall  send  you  a  copy  of  the  book  as  soon  as  com- 
pleted. Hope  you  will  give  me  your  suggestions  and  advice  freely;  they 
will  be  received  with  gratitude  and  consideration.  Have  you  any  objec- 
tions to  my  dedicating  to  you?  Will  you  please  to  be  frank  on  this 
subject? 

Several  weeks  elapsed,  but  he  heard  uothing-  more  concerning  his 
request  for  transfer.  The  suggestion  seemed  agreeable  to  all  con- 
cei'ued.  but  this  was  not  sufficient — definite  action  was  necessary 
on  the  part  of  the  department.  Alexis  had  returned  to  Plattsburgh 
in  the  meantime,  and  there  were  grave  fears  that  he  might  become 
discontented.  Therefore,  on  July  1st,  Beaumont  gave  expression 
to  his  dissatisfaction  in  no  unmistakable  terms  at  being  thus  ignored 
by  his  superiors : 

Disappointed  and  almost  discouraged  at  not  receiving  orders  to  re- 
pair to  Plattsburgh  or  Burlington  to  attend  the  recruiting  service  there,  I 
shall  leave  on  permission  and  go  on  suffrance  tomorrow,  expecting,  of 
course,  to  receive  orders  to  do  that  duty,  as  it  will  be  unpleasurable  to  do 
it  without.     .     .     . 

Alexis  is  at  Plattsburgh  with  my  family,  and  not  entirely  contented  to 
remain,  and  fears  are  felt  if  I  am  not  there  soon  that  he  will  return  to 
Canada  and  give  me  trouble  and  disappointment  again.  I  hope  you  will 
excuse  my  importunities  and  anxiety.  You  know  my  views,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  will  rightly  appreciate  my  feelings  and  wishes  on  the  subjects  sug- 
gested.    I  feel  anxious  to  hear  from  you,  officially  and  unofficially. 

This  promptly  brought  the  department  to  a  realization  of  their 
negligence  in  the  matter,  and  within  two  or  three  days  special 
order  No.  101  was  issued  from  the  adjutant-general's  office: 

Surgeon  Wm.  Beaumont  will  repair  without  delay  to  Plattsburgh.  and 
there  report  to  the  recruiting  officer  for  duty. 


1833-1834 — Degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine  111 

This  order  was  promp'tly  followed  by  a  personal  note  from  the 
surgeon-general  himself,  explaining  the  delay  in  the  matter. 

On  returning  to  Plattsburgh,  Dr.  Beaumont  found  Alexis  await- 
ing him.  His  furlough  of  three  months,  given  so  that  he  might 
go  to  New  York  with  Dr.  Beaumont,  had  elapsed,  and,  in  order 
to  keep  him  on  the  government  rolls,  it  was  necessary  to  transfer 
him  from  the  detachment  of  orderlies  at  AVashington  to  some  other 
duty.  This  was  done  on  June  10th  by  a  conmiunication  from 
General  Macomb 's  office  : 

Sergeant  Alexis  St.  Martin  will  hereafter  be  considered  as  on  duty 
with  you,  and  subject  to  your  orders.  He  will  consequently  be  dropped 
from  the  rolls  of  the  detachment  of  orderlies,  but  will  be  mustered  by  you 
to  the  adjutant-general's  office  until  further  orders. 

In  recognition  of  Dr.  Beaumont's  admirable  researches,  the 
Columbian  College  of  AVashington,  D.  C,  had  conferred  on  him 
on  March  6tli  of  this  year  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Medicine  (Doctorem  in  Arte  Medici).  The  institution  requested, 
as  a  matter  of  form,  that  he  present  his  credentials,  and  he  sent 
them  to  Thomas  Sewall,  professor  of  anatomy  and  physiology,  who, 
together  with  Dr.  Lovell,  had  fathered  the  idea  of  conferring  the 
degree.     He  wrote  Professor  Sewall : 

I  enclose  you  such  testimonials  as  I  have  with  me,  and  hope  they  are 
sufficiently  creditable  to  my  moral  and  Professional  character  to  answer 
the  occasion,  with  your  personal  knowledge  of  my  object  in  view. 

Though  of  the  first  respectability,  their  forms  and  the  authorities  from 
which  they  emanated  may  not  be  so  high  and  classical  an  order  as 
may  be  required  by  the  laws  of  your  institution,  yet  I  respectfully  request 
they  may  be  candidly  and  favorably  considered.  The  Resolution  of  the 
Michigan  Medical  Society  refers  to  my  first  report  of  Alexis'  case  and  the 
few  experiments  first  published  in  the  Recorder,  a  copy  of  which  was  com- 
municated to  that  Society  by  request  of  some  of  its  members  while  I  was 
stationed  at  Mackinac.  Will  you  have  the  goodness  to  preserve  them  in 
your  own  possession  till  I  send  for  them  after  using  them  at  discretion? 

The  degree  was  conferred  by  the  Board  of  Curators  and  the 
faculty-  on  March  6th,  but  there  was  evidently  some  delay  in 
delivering  the  diploma,  for  as  late  as  June  1st  Dr.  Beaumont  wrote 
to  Dr.  Lovell  that  it  had  not  yet  arrived.     It  came,  however,  in  due 

-  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Curators  and 
the  faculty  as  they  appeared  on  his  diploma:  Curatores — John  P.  Van  Ness.  C.  K. 
Gardner.  C.  V.  Towson,  Enochus  Reynolds,  Rota.  Johnstone,  J.  L.  Skinner,  Geo. 
"Wood.  Professores — Stephanus  Chasim.  Prseses;  Thos.  Sewall.  M.  D.,  Anat.  & 
Physiol.;  Galeel  Rug-gles.  Math.  &  Phil.  Nat.;  Thos.  Henderson,  M.  D..  Theor.  & 
Prac. ;  N.  W.  W^orthington,  M.  D..  Mat.  Med.;  Fi'ed.  May,  M.  D.,  Obstets.;  Thos. 
P.  Jones,  M.  D..  Chem.;  J.  C.  Hall,  M.  D.,  Chirurg-. 


178  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^YiIliam  Beaumont 

time,  but  he  was  remiss  in  acknowledging  its  receipt,  for  on  July 
24th  Dr.  Sewall  wrote,  inquiring  about  the  progress  of  the  experi- 
ments, and  incidentally  wishing  to  know  if  the  diploma  had  been 
received.     In  reply  to  these  queries,  Dr.  Beaumont  wrote : 

Yrs.  of  the  24  Inst.  I  have  this  day  reed.,  and  hasten  to  reply.  I  am 
indeed  justly  chargeable  with  an  inexcusable  remissness  in  not  having 
before  made  acknowledgment  of  the  honor  conferred  on  me  by  the  college 
through  [your  exertions].  I  reed,  the  Diploma  through  Dr.  L.,  with  the 
Deposit  left  in  his  hands,  and  verily  intended  to  have  made  prompt  and 
grateful  acknowledgment  to  the  Institution  from  where  it  emanated,  but 
diffidence,  arising  from  a  lively  consciousness  of  deserving  in  so  small  a 
degree  the  honor  conferred,  deterred  and  disqualified  me  for  expressing 
myself  in  terms  adequate  to  truth  and  the  occasion.  Alike  sensible  of 
the  [highj  motives,  the  scientific  views  and  the  liberality  of  the  College, 
and  my  own  inability  and  demerits,  my  best  exertions  have  been  and  all 
my  desires  concentrated  to  merit  by  constant  assiduity  and  close  atten- 
tion to  the  subject  the  honor  conferred.  My  best  efforts  have  been  con- 
tinued in  prosecuting  the  experiments  and  preparing  them  for  publica- 
tion since  I  have  left  Washington.     .     .     . 

Permit  me  respectfully  to  communicate  through  you  my  sentiments  of 
high  consideration  and  sincere  thankfulness  to  the  Professors  and  Gen- 
tlemen of  the  College  for  the  respect  shown  me  by  the  proceedings  of  that 
institution,  and  the  assurance  of  my  best  efforts  to  make  proper  returns 
for  the  proffered  honors. 

The  Connecticut  Medical  Society  also  took  recognition  of  Beau- 
mont's efiforts  at  thivS  time,  and  made  him  an  honorary  member 
of  the   organization.     The   following   is   a   highly   complimentary 

notice  of  his  election  : 

New  Haven,  July  10,  1833. 
Wm.  Beaumont,  M.  D. 

Dear  Sir:  I  herewith  forward  you  the  "Proceedings  of  President  and 
Fellows  of  the  Connt.  Medical  Society,  in  Convention,  May,  1833,"  by 
which  you  will  observe  that  you  are  elected  an  Honorary  Member  of  the 
Connecticut  Medical  Society.  In  officially  giving  you  notice  of  this  elec- 
tion, I  ought  to  state  that  the  Connt.  Med.  Society  has  not  been  accus- 
tomed, like  many  other  societies,  to  a  lavish  and  indiscriminate  distribu- 
tion of  its  honors.  This  honor,  it  appears  by  referring  to  the  records, 
has  been  conferred  on  only  twenty-seven  individuals  since  the  year  1792. 
The  aim  has  been  to  select  candidates  of  distinguished  merit,  and  in  its 
present  instance  the  society  has  acted  with  a  consideration  of  the  distin- 
guished zeal,  ability  and  success  of  your  devotion  to  the  improvement  of 

medical  science. 

Most  respectfully  yr.  obt.  servt., 

Chas.  Hooker. 
Secy.  Conn.  Med.  Secy. 


1833-1834— Fourth  Series  of  Experiments  179 

After  having  prepared  the  manuscript  of  the  former  part  of 
his  work  for  the  press,  he  conducted  a  fourth  series  of  experiments 
from  July  9th  to  November  1st,  numbering  62  in  all.  These  were 
devoted  chiefly  to  the  determination  of  the  mean  time  of  digestion 
of  different  articles  of  diet,  naturally  in  the  stomach  and  artificially 
in  vials  on  the  bath  and  in  the  axilla,  recording  some  experiments 
in  which  the  vials  were  carried  in  the  latter  manner  from  six  to 
twenty-four  hours.  Nothing  especially  new  was  brought  out  in 
this  series,  they  being  largely  confirmatory  of  those  that  had  gone 
before. 

Up  to  the  very  last  experiment  he  lived  in  hopes  that  additional 
revelations  concerning  the  chemistry  of  the  gastric  juice  would  be 
forthcoming  from  some  of  his  correspondents  on  whom  he  was 
dependent  for  this  portion  of  the  work.  He  could  delay  no  longer, 
however.  The  results  of  his  work  must  soon  be  given  to  the  pro- 
fession and  to  the  public,  for  there  was  already  on  file  in  the  office 
of  the  clerk  of  the  southern  district  of  New  York  this  record  : 

Be  it  Remembered,  That  on  the  Twenty-ninth  day  of  July,  Anno  Domini 
1833,  William  Beaumont,  Isl.  D.,  of  the  said  District,  hath  deposited  in  this 
Office  the  title  of  a  Book,  .  .  .  the  title  of  which  is  in  the  words  fol- 
lowing, to  wit:  Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juice  and 
the  Physiology  of  Digestion,  by  William  Beaumont,  M.  D.,  Surgeon  in  the 
U.  S.  Army.     .     .     . 

He  must  have  been  greatly  disappointed  at  this  critical  moment 
on  the  receipt  of  a  communication  from  Mr.  Gahn.  informing  him 
of  a  delay  of  two  and  one-half  months  in  starting  the  package 
containing  the  gastric  juice  on  its  way  to  Berzelius,  when  he  was 
laboring  under  the  impression  that  it  had  already  reached  its 
destination.  The  following  note  of  July  30th  explains  the  reason 
for  the  delay: 

.  .  .  The  Phial  and  Pamphlet  could  not  be  forwarded  by  a  safe  con- 
veyance until  one  offered  by  the  American  Brig  Marcella,  Captain  Hiler, 
of  Boston,  who  sailed  from  New  York  June  27th  direct  for  Gothenburg, 
where  he  promised  to  hand  it  to  the  superintendent  or  Chief  Physician 
of  the  Quarantine  establishment,  with  necessary  directions  for  its  being 
forwarded  to  Professor  Berzelius  at  Stockholm.  Mr.  Gahn  will  take  par- 
ticular care  and  pleasure  in  transmitting  the  earliest  advice  to  Dr.  Beau- 
mont. 

Another  communication  received  at  this  time  from  Professor 
Silliman  was  ecjually  disappointing.     It  was  as  follows : 


180  Life  and  Letters  ejf  Dr.  MlUiai)i  Beaumont 

I  have  delayed  replying  to  your  letter  of  June  30  because  I  have  been 
hoping  ere  this  to  go  into  the  laboratory  to  attempt  something  with  the 
Gastric  juice.  I  can  only  say  that  hitherto  I  have  found  it  impossible, 
owing  to  unceasing  and  inevitable  demands  on  my  time.  I  write  now 
merely  that  you  may  know  that  I  have  not  forgotten  you.  I  do  not  see 
at  present  anything  to  hinder  my  doing  something  for  you  within  a  few 
days,  .  .  .  and  in  the  meantime  remember  what  I  said  to  you  last 
spring — that  I  have  no  great  confidence  in  myself  on  this  subject.  The 
moment  I  hear  from  Professor  Berzelius  I  will  write  to  you,  but  I  think 
we  can  not  expect  to  hear  from  him  within  several  months. 

A  few  days  later  Professor  Silliman  sent  Dr.  Beaumont  the  result 
of  his  observations,  as  well  as  an  abstract  of  a  portion  of  a  system 
of  chemistry  by  Berzelius.  I  present  this  in  full,  because  it  gives 
one  a  splendid  idea  of  the  status  of  our  knowledge  of  the  physiology 
of  digestion  at  that  time. 

Yale  Collecje  Laisoratory.  August  2,  1833. 
To  Dr.  Willia7n  Beaumont. 

Surgeon  U.  8.  Army. 

Dear  Sir:  The  following  citations  are  from  the  seventh  volume  of  a 
system  of  chemistry  by  Professor  Berzelius  which  I  have  received  within 
a  few  days.  It  is  the  French  translation,  published  the  present  year, 
and  is  the  latest  authority  upon  the  subject  of  The  Gastric  Juice.  This 
was  a  long  time  regarded  by  chemists  as  a  kind  of  universal  solvent  for 
different  alimentary  substances — afterwards  they  denied  it  any  dissolving 
power. 

Prout,  Tiedeman  and  Gmelin  give  the  best  notions  on  this  subject,  and 
explain  the  contradictory  statements  of  the  other  authors.  At  one  time 
it  was  said  to  be  very  fluid,  clear,  entirely  neutral;  then  alkaline,  then 
acid,  and  that  in  a  high  degree. 

Spallanzani,  1783,  after  many  experiments  declared  the  gastric  juice, 
in  a  state  of  health,  to  be  entirely  neutral;  a  solvent  for  alimentary  mat- 
ter within  and  without  the  body;  that  it  did  not  putrefy  at  the  ordinary 
temperature  of  the  air,  but  preserved  animal  matters  from  putrefaction 
and  dissolved  them  with  the  aid  of  heat. 

Carminati,  1785,  found  it  not  acid  in  carnivorous  animals  when  fast- 
ing, but  quite  acid  in  those  which  had  eaten.  This,  says  Berzelius,  is  the 
first  ray  of  light  which  illuminated  the  subject. 

Werner,  1800,  says  the  mass  contained  in  the  stomach  of  carnivorous 
and  herbivorous  animals  is  acid  during  digestion. 

Montegre,  1812,  who  could  vomit  at  will,  and  thereby  obtained  the 
gastric  juice  unmixed,  says  it  is  not  acid  or  alkaline,  not  a  solvent,  not 
slow  to  putrefy;  so  much  like  saliva  that  he  regards  it  as  saliva  swal- 
lowed, and  the  traces  of  free  acid  as  owing  to  incipient  decompositions. 

Prout,  1824,  says  it  is  really  acid;  does  not  contain  an  organic  acid, 
but  free  hydrochloric   or  muriatic  acid.      (For  his  process  see   Berzelius, 


1833-1834 — Letter  from  Professor  SiUiman  181 

vol.  VII,  page  149.)  This  examination  was  made  by  taking  the  contents  of 
the  stomach  of  an  animal  killed  soon  after  eating,  and  digesting  the  mass 
in  water,  filtering,  and  testing  the  fluid.  His  results  were  39.6  parts 
chlorine  found  in  a  quantity — 9.5  parts  were  combined  with  potassium 
and  sodium,  7.9  with  ammonium,  22.2  with  hydrogen,  constituting  the 
hydrochloric  acid.  The  acid  liquid  vomited  by  a  dyspeptic  gave  12.11 
parts  of  chlorine  under  the  saline  form,  5.13  in  the  form  of  hydrochloric 
acid. 

It  was  a  desideratum  to  know  the  reason  why  the  opinion  that  the 
gastric  juice  was  neutral  had  been  so  obstinately  maintained.  Carminati's 
experiment  was  a  guide,  but  those  of  Gmelin  and  Tiedeman  furnished  a 
complete  solution  of  tiie. enigma. 

G.  and  T.,  without  knowing  the  experiments  of  Prout,  also  established, 
in  a  different  mode,  the  presence  of  free  hydrochloric  acid  in  this  fluid. 
They  discovered  it  was  acid,  and  contained  a  deliquescent  salt,  not 
destroyed  when  heated  to  redness,  and  which  proved  to  be  chloride  of 
calcium.  General  results — the  stomach,  when  empty,  secretes  only  suf- 
ficient fluid  to  moisten  its  intei'nal  face;  mechanical  stimulation  produces 
a  greater  secretion,  but  never  so  much  as  the  ingestion  of  alimentary 
substances. 

The  fluid  of  the  empty  stomach  is  slightly  acid,  sometimes  neutral,  and 
the  acidity  is  in  proportion  to  the  quantity.  Contains  much  mucus, 
which  may  be  removed  by  the  filter;  is  then  clear,  yellowish,  and  of  a 
saline  taste.  Contains  much  water;  deposits  about  2  percent  of  solid 
residuum  like  that  from  the  fluid  of  the  serous  membranes.  The  gastric 
juice  becomes  very  acid  when  aliments  have  been  swallowed;  its  free  acid 
is  chiefly  hydrochloric  acid.  By  distilling  the  liquid  to  dryness  in  a 
water  bath,  Gm.  and  T.  obtained  traces  of  acetic  acid,  and,  in  that  of  the 
horse,  of  butyric  acid.  The  distilled  liquid  had  a  feeble  reaction  like 
acids;  was  not  precipitated  by  nitrate  of  silver,  as  the  hydrochloric  acid 
was  retained  by  the  organic  matters.  Saturated  with  carb.  of  barytes  and 
evaporated,  it  yielded  an  uncrystallizable  salt,  which,  with  sulphuric 
acid,  gave  out  vapors  exhaling  the  odors  of  acetic  and  butyric  acids. 
The  difficulty  of  obtaining  the  gastric  juice  pure  and  in  large  quantity, 
and  of  characterizing  the  substance  separated  by  analysis,  leaves  the 
whole  in  much  uncertainty. 

Gm.  and  T.  found  no  albumin  in  the  gastric  juice  of  the  dog,  and  only 
traces  of  it  in  that  of  the  horse.  Salts  in  the  gastric  juice  are  princi- 
pally chloride  of  sodium,  chloride  of  potassium  in  small  quantity,  hydro- 
chlorate  of  ammonia,  a  little  sulphate  of  potassa.  An  alkaline  carbonate 
or  phosphate  has  never  been  found.  After  burning  the  residuum  of  the 
dried  gastric  juice,  and  taking  up  the  soluble  salts  with  the  water,  there 
remain  lime,  magnesia,  traces  of  perox.  of  iron  and  sometimes  protox 
of  manganese,  all  combined  with  phosphoric  acid,  and  a  portion  of  lime 
with  carbonic  acid.  Sometimes  there  are  found  sulphate  of  lime  and 
chloride  of  sodium  In  the  ashes.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  hydro- 
fluoric acid,  as  well  as  hydrochloric  acid,  may  exist  in  a  free  state  in  the 


182  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiam  Beaumont 

gastric    juice,    since   the   fluoride    of   calcium    is    found    in   bones    and    in 
urine. 

The  secretory  organs  of  the  gastric  juice  are  not  known,  nor  whether 
the  same  organs  secrete  the  unacid  fluid  found  in  the  empty  stomach  and 
the  acid  fluid  is  produced  during  the  digestion.  No  organ  for  the  especial 
secretion  of  the  gastric  juice  has  yet  been  discovered. 

Then  follow  the  results  of  his  investigations,  on  which  Dr. 
Beaumont  had  laid  so  much  hope.  It  will  be  seen  that  his  results 
are  very  unsatisfactory  and  incomplete,  and  added  practically 
nothing-  to  the  knowledge  which  Beaumont  had  gleaned  from  his 
own  observations  and  the  suggestions  of  Dunglison. 

EXAMIXATIOX    OF    GaSTRIC   FlTID,    AUGUST    2,    1833. 

1.  The  fluid,  after  being  kept  in  a  closely  corked  vial  more  than  three 
mouths,  from  April  to  August,  and  most  of  this  time  in  a  cellar,  remained 
unaltered,  except  the  formation  of  a  pellicle  upon  the  surface,  slightly 
discolored  by  red  spots;  a  second  pellicle  appeared  after  the  precipitation 
of  the  flrst — it  was  thicker  and  more  discolored,  with  dark-red  spots  like 
venous  blood. 

2.  The  fluid  was  cloudy,  like  a  solution  of  gum  Arabic,  but  on  filtering 
it  became  perfectly  clear  and  of  a  light  straw-yellow  tinge. 

3.  The  pellicles,  which  had  the  appearance  of  inspissated  mucus,  after 
being  separated  from  the  fluid  became,  on  exposure  to  the  air,  throughout 
of  a  dark,  brownish  red  color,  resembling  the  inner  portion  of  a  mass  of 
coagulated  blood.  This  change  seemed  to  result  from  a  sudden  oxygena- 
tion. 

4.  The  fluid  exhaled  a  slight  odor — not  disagreeable,  rather  aromatic, 
and  very  similar  to  that  which  it  at  first  exhaled,  but  not  so  strong;  it 
was  then  rather  disagreeable. 

5.  Taste  feebly  saline,  not  disagreeable. 

6.  Test  papers  of  litmus,  athanet,  and  purple  cabbage  were  decidedly 
reddened.  Turmeric  paper  underwent  no  change,  but,  when  previously 
browned  by  an  alkali  (ammonia),  the  gastric  fluid  restored  the  yellow 
color. 

7.  Nitrate  of  silver  gave  a  dense  white  precipitate,  which,  after  stand- 
ing five  minutes  in  the  sun's  light,  turned  to  a  dark,  brownish  black,  thus 
indicating  muriatic  acid.  Mur.  and  Nit.  barytes  gave  a  slight  opalescence, 
indicating  a  trace  of  sulphuric  acid;  not  improbably  there  was  also  some 
phosphoric  acid. 

8.  Specific  gravity  taken  in  a  small  thin  glass  tube  containing  201 
grs.  of  distilled  water.  When  filled  with  the  gastric  fluid,  its  weight  was 
increased  1  grm.  of  the  gastric  liquor — therefore  202.  The  specific  grav- 
ity is  therefore  about  1.005,  showing  but  little  solid  matter  in  solution. 

It  is  quite  obvious  from  the  above  statement  that  the  gastric  fluid 
now  considered  is  identical  with  that  heretofore  examined  by   different 


1833-1834 — Results  of  Silliman's  Analyses  18o 

experimenters.  It  appears,  however,  to  be  more  acid  than  the  gastric 
fluid  taken  from  a  fasting  stomach  has  generally  been  found,  and  I  can 
not  say  how  far  it  may  have  become  acid  by  so  long  keeping.  I  trust  we 
shall  have  a  more  full  examination  from  Professor  Berzelius,  to  whom 
(agreeably  to  my  recommendation)  you  were  so  kind  as  to  send  an 
ample  supply  (one  pint),  which,  from  my  own  experience  in  keeping  the 
fluid,  we  may  hope  will  reach  him  without  suffering  any  material  change. 
Wishing  to  preserve  a  specimen  for  exhibition  to  my  classes,  I  did  not 
proceed  to  evaporate  the  small  quantity  (2^^  ounces)  of  the  fluid  which 
I  had  left.  At  present  we  are  in  no  condition  to  explain  the  surprising 
process  of  digestion.  It  is  obvious  that  the  trifling  portion  of  chemical 
agents  hitherto  discovered  in  the  gastric  fluid  (all  of  them  mild,  except- 
ing a  little  free  hydrochloric  acid,  and  possibly,  as  Professor  Berzelius 
suggests,  a  little  hydrofluoric  acid)  can  give  no  adequate  explanation  of 
this  phenomenon,  nor  will  it  aid  us  materially  to  attribute  the  singular 
activity  of  the  fluid  to  the  peculiar  action  of  the  stomach,  since  digestion, 
with  a  temperature  of  about  100°  F.  and  occasional  agitation,  takes  place 
as  rapidly  out  of  the  body  as  in  the  living  stomach.  On  placing  today 
a  piece  of  veal  in  a  wine  glass  containing  some  of  the  gastric  fluid,  and 
standing  on  a  warm  stove  (stirring  occasionally  with  a  glass  rod),  diges- 
tion began  very  soon  and  proceeded  until  the  fluid  had  spent  its  force, 
and  was  renewed  on  the  addition  of  more  fluid. 

I  regret  that  I  can  not  contribute  something  important  to  our  pre- 
vious knowledge — there  is  much  in  physiology  that  eludes  the  scrutiny 
of  chemistry.  Thought  may  emanate  from  the  brain,  volition  may  cause 
the  movement  of  the  muscles,  sentient  and  ever  rational  beings  may 
spring  from  a  seminal  drop  of  very  simple  composition,  and  all  kinds  of 
aliment  may  dissolve  with  the  equally  mild  and  simple  gastric  fluid,  but 
who  can  explain  the  proximate,  or  even  the  ultim.ate,  cause  in  any  other 
way  than  by  referring  it  to  a  positive  law  of  the  Creator — often  incom- 
prehensible equally  in  his  nature  and  in  his  works. 
Yours  very  respectfully, 

B.    SiLLIMAN. 

Private. — I  am  sorry  to  have  done  so  little  for  you,  but  at  present  it 
is  utterly  impossible  for  me  to  do  more — such  are  my  engagements  in 
many  ways.  It  would  be  very  desirable  that  the  actual  publication  of 
your  work  should  be  kept  back  until  we  can  hear  from  Berzelius,  who, 
with  such  an  unprecedented  quantity,  will,  I  am  persuaded,  do  something 
worth  telling  of. 

Not  satisfied  to  go  to  press  before  every  possible  source  of 
knowledge  had  been  exhausted,  Dr.  Beaumont  makes  one  more 
appeal  to  Professor  Dunglison : 

I  feel  some  delicacy  in  addressing  you  at  this  time,  lest  I  may  be 
considered  unwarranted.  The  lively  interest  manifested  by  you  in  the 
successful  prosecution  of  my  experiments  last  winter  induces  me  to  be- 


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186  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

lieve  that  a  few  suggestions  on  the  subject  may  not  be  unkindly  consid- 
ered at  this  time.  Being  about  to  commence  the  publication  of  all  my  ex- 
periments, observations,  etc.,  I  am  anxious  to  render  them  as  interesting 
as  possible  to  the  public.  To  do  this,  I  wish  to  [include]  essential  and 
important  facts  which  may  have  been  developed  in  the  course  of  the  in- 
vestigation, whether  my  own  or  the  more  important  labors  of  scientific 
friends,  so  far  as  they  may  feel  willing  to  contribute  and  consent  to  be 
associated  with  me. 

The  result  of  your  analysis  of  the  qty.  of  gas.  ju.  taken  with  you  from 
Wn.  is  considered  of  much  importance,  to  be  inserted  as  it  is.  Should 
you  have  obtained  any  fuller  and  further  satisfactory  results  from  an 
investigation  of  the  second  parcel  sent  you,  and  will  take  the  trouble  to 
communicate  them  to  me  at  this  place  soon  as  convenient,  with  your  per- 
mission to  incorporate  them  with  the  work,  it  will  doubtless  greatly  en- 
hance its  value,  and  confer  upon  science  a  very  important  benefit.     .     .     . 

May  I  not  anticipate  your  continued  favorable  consideration  of  the 
subject,  and  expect  your  early  reply  to  this?  I  have  been  too  laboriously 
occupied  to  be  either  a  faithful  or  interesting  correspondent.  I  hope 
soon  to  attone  for  any  weakness  I  may  have  been  thought  chargeable 
with.     .     .     . 

At  this  time  INIajor  Bache,  of  Philadelphia,  was  at  Plattsburgh, 
and  Dr.  Beaumont  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  to  send  a 
specimen  of  the  gastric  contents  to  his  brother,  Dr.  Franklin  Bache,^ 
with  the  following  note : 

.  .  .  I  avail  myself  of  an  opportunity  of  sending  some  gastric  juice 
by  your  brother.  Major  Bache,  and  you  will  do  me  a  favor  if  you  will 
analyse  it  as  soon  as  practicable  and  send  me  the  result.  I  am  about 
publishing  a  volume  of  experiments  and  observations,  and  will  be  glad  to 
get  your  analysis  before  it  goes  to  press,  which  will  be  in  the  course  of 
three  or  four  weeks.  By  giving  your  immediate  attention  to  this  subject, 
you  will  greatly  oblige  me  and  confer  a  benefit  on  the  cause  of  science. 

Dr.  Bache  replied  (September  12,  1833)  : 

,  .  .  I  have  not  the  requisite  convenience  and  apparatus  to  make  an 
analysis  of  the  juice,  as  you  request,  but  I  hope  to  be  able  to  find  time  to 
test  it,  so  as  to  determine  its  principle,  if  not  all  its  constituents,  without 
ascertaining  the  relative  proportion.  Animal  analysis  is  the  most  diffi- 
cult department  of  [chemistry],  and  there  are  not  living  now  many  chem- 
ists who  could  perform  a  complete  analysis  of  the  gastric  juice  of  Alexis. 
Thenaud  in  France,  Prout  in  England,  Berzelius  in  Sweden  are  the  best 


3  Dr.  Fi-anklin  Bache,  an  American  chemist,  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1792,  was 
professor  of  chemistry  in  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  in  1831  and  in 
the  Jefferson  Medical  College  in  1841.  As  early  as  1S19  he  had  published  a  sys- 
tem of  chemistry.  He  was  the  grandson  of  Sarah  Franklin  Bache,  the  only 
daughter  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  his  father  was  Benjamin  Franklin  Bache, 
the  "Benny"  of  Franklin's  letters  from  France. 


1833-1834— Book  Sold  by  Subscription  187 

analysts  we  have  in  this  department,  and  I  advise  you  to  send  specimens 
of  the  juice  to  them. 

A  few  days  ago  I  received  a  letter  from  Dr.  Lovell,  enclosing  a  pros- 
pectus of  your  work,  requesting  that  I  would  place  it  in  some  hook  store. 
Accordingly  I  have  placed  it  at  the  store  of  Mr.  Judah  Dobson,  who  has 
kindly  agreed  to  receive  the  subscribers,  and  to  perform  any  agency  in 
the  matter  that  may  be  agreeable  to  you.  I  presume  you  do  not  intend  to 
print  your  work  in  Plattsburgh,  as  I  am  sure  that  it  cannot  be  done  there 
in  that  handsome  style  which  is  so  essential  to  its  success.  Wishing  you 
every  success  in  your  laudable  exertions  in  elucidating  a  very  important 
department  of  Physiological  science,  I  subscribe  myself.     .     .     . 

It  was  decided  to  sell  the  book  by  subscription,  and,  witli  this  in 
view,  prospectuses,  or  "proposals"  (page  184),  were  sent  out  about 
September  1st,  presenting  a  synopsis  of  the  work,  at  the  bottom 
of  which  was  space  for  the  signatures  and  addresses  of  those  sub- 
scribing to  the  work.  These  prospectuses  were  sent  out  to  various 
friends  throughout  the  country,  some  of  whom  personally  conducted 
a  campaign  in  behalf  of  Dr.  Beaumont,  others  of  whom  deposited 
the  prospectuses  in  conspicuous  places,  such  as  a  drug  store  or 
book  store.  Among  the  names  of  those  who  acted  as  agents  may  be 
mentioned  Dr.  Chandler,  his  preceptor,  St.  Albans,  Vt. ;  John 
Beaumont,  his  brother,  Lebanon,  Conn. ;  Lieutenant  J.  W.  Kings- 
bury, a  lifelong  friend,  St.  Louis,  Mo. ;  Dr.  Franklin  Bache,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. ;  Mr.  Ramsay  Crooks,  New  York  city ;  Hezekiah  Howe, 
New  Haven,  Conn. ;  Dr.  L.  Abot,  Detroit,  Mich. ;  Colonel  Stearns, 
Malone,  N.  Y. ;  Judge  Loomis,  Montpelier,  Vt. ;  A.  C.  Flagg,  Albany, 
N.  Y. ;  E.  L.  Clark's  bookstore,  St.  Louis,  Mo.;  the  store  of  Judah 
Dobson,  Philadelphia,  and  many  others. 

After  receiving  several  of  the  ' '  proposals, ' '  Dr.  Lovell  wrote  Dr. 
Beaumont  on  September  13th : 

Your  letter  of  the  1st  inst.  has  been  received,  and  I  congratulate  you  on 
the  prospect  of  finishing  your  book.  One  copy  of  the  proposals  has  been 
sent  to  Dr.  Franklin  Bache,  at  Philadelphia,  one  to  Dr.  Stewart,  at  Balti- 
more, who  will,  I  believe,  give  them  the  best  direction  for  subscriptions 
whenever  requested  to  make  the  result  known.  The  two  others  have  been 
retained  for  this  place.  With  regard  to  the  Paris  journals,  it  has  occurred 
to  me  that  the  best  plan  will  be  to  transmit  a  copy  or  two  of  your  book  to 
Mr.  Livingston  through  the  State  Department,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
suggest  the  plan  to  him  for  the  consideration  of  some  of  their  learned 
ones,  who  would  then  be  able  to  form  some  definite  opinion  of  the 
importance  of  the  case,  and  be  more  likely  to  make  some  determinate  and 
practical  proposition,  which  could  perhaps  hardly  be  expected  in  a  mere 


188  Life  and  Ldfers  of  Br.  Willinm   Ilcamnonf 

statement  of  the  case.  Such  a  letter  with  the  books  may  be  traasmitted 
to  ill'.  L.  as  soon  as  the  latter  are  ready.  On  the  mode  of  obtaining  copy- 
rights in  Europe  I  know  nothing,  but  believe  it  to  be  troublesome  and 
expensive,  unless  perhaps  it  is  done  through  some  of  the  bookseller's 
craft.  .  .  .  Although  the  facts  on  the  third  page  of  your  book  are 
somewhat  apochryphal,^  the  kind  feelings  which  invented  them  are  not 
the  less  appreciated  by.  sincerely  yours.     .     .     . 

When  ]\Ir.  Ramsay  Crooks'  received  his  copy  of  the  proposal,  he 
replied  with  some  excellent  advice  from  the  standpoint  of  the  busi- 
ness man : 

I  wrote  you  a  week  ago,  and  by  Che  date  of  this  you  will  conclude  that 
Stmday  is  not  always  appropriated  by  me  to  public  worship. 

Some  medical  gentlemen  to  whom  I  have  spoken  of  your  forthcoming 
publication,  and  exhibited  your  "proposals,"  encourage  me  to  hope  a  re- 
spectable list  of  subscribers  can  be  obtained,  but  they  suggest  that  had 
you  procured  and  appended  to  the  prospectus  the  testimonials  of  some  of 
your  distinguished  professional  brethren  as  to  the  facts  and  merits  of  the 
work,  it  would  have  done  you  much  good.  If  not  too  late,  it  may  be  well 
to  do  so  yet. 

I  have  concluded  to  employ  a  competent  man  to  visit  the  principal 
physicians  here,  and  subsequently  those  of  less  note.  The  difficulty  is  to 
get  the  right  sort  of  person,  but  I  have  hopes  of  finding  my  man  in  a 
day  or  two. 

Having  no  knowledge  of  bookmaking  or  bookselling.  I  am  a  poor  ad- 
visor, but  with  your  permission  I  think  the  surest  road  to  success  is  to  get 
your  book  out  as  soon  as  possible,  and  send  it  to  such  of  our  reviewers  as 
will  by  their  respectability  stamp  its  full  value  upon  the  work,  and  bring 
it  into  notice  at  once;  and  I  would  place  it  in  the  hands  of  an  able  book- 
seller in  each  of  the  principal  cities  and  towns  of  the  Union.  1  am  told 
that  subscription  lists  do  not  always  show  the  real  amount  of  patronage, 
for  more  than  one  is  quite  willing  tQ  see  his  name  in  the  company  of  his 
betters,  but  not  so  ready  to  pay  when  the  collector  calls. 

Newspapers  thioiiuhout  the  country  were  very  generous  and  very 
complimentary  in  tlieir  reviews  of  Dr.  Beaumont's  book.  The 
comments  of  the  l;iy  press  in  this  connection  are  both  interesting 


*This  allusion  is  to  the  dedication  of  the  work:  "To  Joseph  Lovell.  M.  D., 
Surgeon-General  of  the  t'nited  States  Army,  whose  merit  justly  entitles  him  to 
the  rank  which  he  holds,  and  whose  zeal  in  the  cause  of  medical  science  is 
equalled  onlv  bv  his  ability  to  promote  it.  As  a  tribute  of  respect  for  his  public 
and  private"  virtues,  and  as  a  feeble  acknowledgment  for  a  long  tried  and  un- 
varying friendship,   this  work  is  respectfully  dedicated,  by  The  Author." 

^Mr.  Crooks  remained  a  partner  in  the  American  Fur  Company  practically 
up  to  the  time  of  Mr.  Astor's  retirement  from  business,  and  in  1834  the  charter 
of  the  ccmpanv  was  transferred  to  Mr.  Crooks  and  his  associates.  He  was  made 
president  of  the  concern,  with  New  York  as  his  headquarters,  but  reverses  in 
business  necessitated  an  assignment  in  1842,  following  which  Mr.  Crooks  started 
a  fur  business  for  himself.  He  was  very  successful  up  to  the  time  of  his  death 
in   New    York   citv.    which    occurred  on   June   6.    18.59,    in   his   seventy-third   year. 


1833-1834 — Complimentary  Press  Notices  189 

and  amusing.  A  few  of  the  clippings  that  had  been  carefully 
preserved  by  Dr.  Beaumont  are  reproduced  in  part  here  to  give 
a  general  idea  of  the  attitude  of  the  press  and  the  public  toAvard 
this  unique  work. 

Evening  Post,  New  York,  September  5.  1833  : 

It  will  be  concluded  readily  by  most  men  that  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant subjects  for  the  study  of  man  is  his  stomach.  In  sickness  or  in 
health,  it  equally  claims  our  serious  attention,  and  the  epicure  and  the 
dyspeptic  are  alike  engaged,  though  by  very  dissimilar  modes,  in  answer- 
ing the  calls  or  soothing  the  complaints  of  this  very  essential  part  of  the 
body.  We  all  remember  the  ingenious  apologue  on  this  subject  wherein 
it  is  shown  how  the  rebellious  members  were  punished  for  daring  to 
despise  and  presuming  to  refuse  allegiance  to  this  craving  and  insatiable 
monarch.  But  with  all  the  study  that  has  been  bestowed  upon  this  all- 
important  organ  and  the  mysterious  powers  of  digestion,  we  have  been 
very  much  in  the  dark  in  respect  to  the  causes  of  its  healthful  operations 
or  of  its  morbid  actions.  Doctors  have  differed  and  patients  have  suffered, 
while  their  physicians  disputed  the  reality  of  the  gastric  juice,  or  the 
effect  of  this  or  that  substance  introduced  as  food  or  medicine  into  the 
mysterious  region  from  which  all  power  flows.  It  seemed  as  if  nothing 
short  of  miracle  could  have  enabled  man  to  view  the  internal  operations 
and  test  the  power  of  the  juices  provided  by  nature  to  carry  on  the  animal 
economy;  and  yet  it  has  been  done,  and  the  previous  knowledge  has  been 
revealed  without  the  aid  of  miracle,  although  by  a  process  little  short 
of  one.     ... 

Piepertory,  St.  Albans,  Vt.,  September  19,  1833  : 

The  march  of  knowledge  is  onward,  its  progress  unceasing,  its  extent 
apparently  boundless.  Not  a  year  rolls  into  eternity  but  leaves  its  me- 
morial of  discoveries  of  improvements.  That  which  one  year  is  "dark  as 
midnight"  is  before  the  close  of  another  unveiled,  its  hidden  mysteries 
exposed,  its  properties  shown  and  subjected  to  the  use  and  benefit  of 
mankind.  All  things  seem  to  conduce  to  this  advancement.  Even  pain 
and  anguish  further  it.  Whatever  transpires  adds  to  the  already  mighty 
mass  of  science.  Genius  stands  ready  to  catch  from  passing  events  a 
mite  to  add  to  the  stores  of  learning,  and  philanthropy  is  ever  on  the 
watch  to  extract  therefrom  wherewithal  to  ameliorate  man's  condition. 
Each  is  successful;  every  year  witnesses  new  developments;  each  season 
brings  with  it  an  antidote,  in  a  degree,  to  some  of  the  "many  ills  that  life 
is  heir  to."  .  .  .  The  work  is  one  of  general  utility,  is  calculated  for 
general  circulation,  appeals  to  and  should  receive  the  support  of  every 
class  of  readers,  and  can  not  fail  to  deeply  interest  and  instruct  all  who 
give  it  a  perusal.  It  offers  to  the  physician  much  minute  instruction  in 
his  profession  that  can  nowhere  else  be  found;  to  the  philosopher  a  new 
source  of  admiration  and  reflection  on  the  complicated,  yet  beautiful,  per- 


190  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  MlUiam  Beaumont 

fectness  of  the  human  body;  to  the  chemist  the  examination  of  a  liquid 
more  potent  than  any  in  his  laboratory;  and  to  every  man  a  greater 
knowledge  of  his  internal  construction  and  a  fund  of  extremely  interest- 
ing information,  which  in  these  days  of  indigestion  is  well  worth  one's 
notice  to  acquire,  and  thereby  guard  against  the  demon.  The  book  will 
be  published  in  December  next,  illustrated  with  engravings,  and  afforded 
to  subscribers  at  three  dollars. 

St.  Louis,  September  19,  1833 : 

The  Wonders  of  Nature. — Wonderful  are  the  doings  of  nature!  Strange 
and  erratic  is  her  course,  setting  at  defiance  the  wisdom  of  man,  baffling 
his  deepest  and  most  elaborate  observation,  as  it  were  to  show  his  im- 
potence; and  then  suddenly,  singularly  and  bounteously  throwing  open 
her  inmost  recesses  to  his  view  and  for  his  benefit,  placing  at  his  dis- 
posal by  accident  what  she  denies  to  his  most  extended  and  most  minute 
researches.  Yes!  avenues  to  acknowledge  the  most  important  are  often 
opened  by  the  merest  accidents.  An  exemplification  of  this  is  seen  in  the 
case  on  which  is  founded  the  experiments  on  the  gastric  juice,  etc.,  re- 
cently published  by  Dr.  Beaumont.     .     .     . 

The  author  undoubtedly  relied  on  the  interest  of  the  subject,  the  un- 
exampled source  and  nature  of  his  information,  to  secure  for  it  the  pat- 
ronage of  the  community.  Has  he  calculated  wrongly?  Is  he  to  be  made 
an  example  to  deter  others  from  pursuing  the  thankless  path  of  costly 
research  after  truth?  Or,  is  it  his  to  show  that  an  American  public  will 
ever  cordially  nourish  the  seeds  for  improvement  which  may  come  into 
their  possession? 

The  price  of  the  book,  though  high,  compared  with  the  light  reading 

of  the  day,  is  not  so  when  considered  as  to  its  intrinsic  value.    And  even 

at  the  price  at  which  it  sells  it  will  not  probably  remunerate  the  author 

■for  the  expenses  attendant  on  prosecuting  the  experiments,  etc.     1  hope 

our  citizens  will  give  it  a  liberal  patronage.     O.  P.  Q. 

National  Gazette: 

Beaumont's  Experiments  on  Digestion. — The  all-absorbing  topic  of  the 
deposits  of  public  money  appears,  from  the  silence  of  this  long  expected 
production  of  Dr.  Beaumont,  to  have  left  no  leisure  in  our  reading  com- 
munity for  an  inquiry  into  its  merits.  As  it,  however,  treats  of  a  de- 
scription of  deposits  in  which  each  one  must  take  the  "responsibility  on 
himself,"  even  if  our  good  presidentc  should  claim  his  right  as  chief  ex- 
ecutive officer  to  assume  that  duty  also — which,  by  the  way,  would  not 
startle  a  physiologist  more  than  the  shade  of  Washington  must  be  by  the 
novel  assumption  of  power  by  his  successor — a  short  notice  of  it  may 
be  useful. 


"Has  reference  to  Andrew  Jackson's  financial  policy,  and  liis  arbitrary  and 
vigorous  opposition  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  when  he  vetoed  the  bill 
to  recharter  the  institution  and  ordered  the  accumulated  funds  distributed 
among  the  state  banks. 


1833-1834— Neiv  Contract  with  Alexis  191 

Eepuhlicait,  St.  Louis,  September  24,  1833 : 

.  .  .  Proposals  for  this  work  can  be  seen  at  E.  L.  Clark's  book  store, 
where  not  only  the  medical  gentlemen  are  invited  to  patronize  merit  and 
obtain  information,  but  the  community  at  large,  who  in  these  times  of 
cholera  can  not  have  a  better  medical  work  in  their  hands  than  the 
"Physiology  of  Digestion." 

Galenian,  September  15,  1833 : 

.  .  .  Will  be  read  with  utility  and  interest  by  all  classes  of  every 
community.  ...  It  develops  important  facts  relative  to  the  digestive 
functions,  concerning  which  no  person  of  either  sex  should  remain  ig- 
norant. 

Following  each  of  these  introductions  was  a  long  synopsis,  in 
many  cases  a  column  or  more  being  devoted  to  the  review. 

Everything  looked  bright  and  encouraging  for  the  reception  of 
the  book.  More  than  eleven  years  had  elapsed  since  the  occurrence 
of  the  accident  which  brought  Beaumont  the  opportunity  which 
he  had  recognized  and  utilized  to  its  fullest  extent.  He  was,  how- 
ever, still  dissatisfied  with  the  results  of  his  labors — discontented 
because  it  was  incomplete,  and  restless  because  he  realized  that  this 
source  of  physiological  information  had  not  yet  yielded  up  to 
science  all  the  riches  that  lay  buried  in  it.  More  digging,  more  re- 
search, would  be  necessary  to  exhaust  the  rich  vein  of  possibilities. 
He  entered,  therefore,  into  a  new  agreement  with  Alexis,  the  word- 
ing of  which  was  practically  the  same  as  in  the  previous  one,  which 
had  expired  in  October.  This  time  it  was  executed,  however,  for  a 
period  of  two  years,  beginning  November  7,  1833,  for  a  considera- 
tion of  $400,  to  be  paid  in  installments  (page  192). 

There  being  no  longer  occasion  for  his  remaining  in  Plattsburgh, 
Dr.  Beaumont  requested  and  received  orders,  dated  November  23d, 
to  repair  to  Washington  and  report  himself  to  the  surgeon-general. 
Two  weeks  later  he  informed  the  adjutant-general  that  he  had  just 
received  the  order,  and  it  would  be  promptly  obeyed. 

Just  about  this  time  the  first  copies  of  his  book  were  being  turned 
out.  One  of  them  was  deposited  on  December  20th  in  the  office  of 
the  clerk  of  the  Southern  District  of  New  York,  and  others  were 
sent  complimentary  to  many  of  his  notable  friends  in  AA'ashington. 
While  I  have  no  intention  of  presenting  here  a  full  synopsis  or 
review  of  the  work,  for  this  would  naturally  lead  to  a  discussion 
of  the  large  field  of  the  physiology  of  digestion,  it  will  not  be  amiss 


192  Life  and  Letters  of  Br.  WiUiani  Beaumont 


c/yiL.    tc^  i'j^i  •^J  14.' Aj  ui  tr.-"   o-  »>  'fr^j^  /f*.^  ^/i^^O     //^/j.t^.-t-e*^       oi^^^c  >'*«**' * 


'V^-^-...... 


-^'(">C' 


■  6^*<<4^yf    t/^(^dc,i^ 


The   last  page  of  a    contract   made   on   November  7.    1833.   between  Dr.    Beau- 
mont and  St.  Martin  for  a  .similar  puipo.se  as  the  contract  shown  on  page  148. 


1833-1834— Preface  to  His  Book  193 

to  speak  briefly  of  the  book,  and  present  a  few  characteristic 
abstracts  from  it,  especially  since  the  original  may  not  be  accessible 
to  every  reader  of  this  volume.  The  book  is  an  octavo  of  280  pages, 
bound  in  pasteboard,  printed  on  thin  paper,  and  is  entitled 
"Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juice  and  the 
Physiology  of  Digestion,"  by  William  Beaumont,  M.  D.,  Surgeon 
U.  S.  A.,  and  printed  by  F.  P.  Allen.'  Plattsburgh,  1833.  The  sale 
of  the  first  edition  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Lilly,  Wait  &  Co., 
of  Boston.  The  preface  is  short,  pithy,  and  characteristic  of  the 
Avork  in  general : 

The  present  age  is  prolific  of  worlds  on  physiology;  therefore,  in  offer- 
ing to  the  public  another  book  relative  to  an  important  branch  of  this 
science,  it  will  perhaps  be  necessary  to  assign  my  motives. 

They  are,  first,  a  wish  to  comply  with  the  repeated  and  urgent  solicita- 
tions of  many  medical  men  who  have  become  partially  acquainted  with 
the  facts  and  observations  it  is  my  intention  to  detail;  men  in  whose 
judgment  I  place  confidence,  and  who  have  expressed  their  conviction  of 
the  deep  importance  of  the  experiments,  the  result  of  which  I  mean  here- 
with to  submit  to  the  public.  Secondly  (and  it  is  that  which  mainly  in- 
fluences me),  my  own  firm  conviction  that  medical  science  will  be  for- 
warded by  the  publication. 

I  am  fully  aware  of  the  importance  of  the  subject  which  these  experi- 
ments are  intended  to  illustrate,  as  well  in  a  pathological  as  in  a  physio- 
logical point  of  view;  and  I  am  therefore  willing  to  risk  the  censure  or 
neglect  of  critics  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  cast  my  mite  into  the  treasury 
of  knowledge,  and  to  be  the  means,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  of  sub- 
serving the  cause  of  truth  and  ameliorating  the  condition  of  suffering 
humanity. 

I  make  no  claim  to  originality  in  my  opinions  as  it  respects  the  exist- 
ence and  operation  of  the  gastric  juice.  My  experiments  confirm  the 
doctrines  (with  some  modifications)  taught  by  Spallanzani  and  many  of  the 
most  enlightened  physiological  writers.  They  are  experiments  made  in 
the  true  spirit  of  inquiry,  suggested  by  the  very  extraordinary  case  which 
gave  me  an  opportunity  of  making  them.  I  had  no  particular  hypothesis 
to  support,  and  I  have  therefore  honestly  recorded  the  result  of  each  ex- 
periment exactly  as  it  occurred. 

The  reader  will  perceive  some  slight  seeming  discrepancies  which  he 
may  find  it  difilcult  to  reconcile,  but  he  will  recollect  that  the  human  ma- 


"  Frederick  P.  Allen  was  a  mere  boy  when  Colonel  Melanchton  Smith,  in 
April.  1811.  purchased  an  old  Ramage  press,  with  two  or  three  barrels  of  type, 
and  established  the  Plattsburgh  Repuhlican  In  opposition  to  Samuel  Lowell's 
anti-Federalist  organ.  A  room  was  hired  in  the  home  of  Allen's  mother,  and  it 
was  here  the  first  editions  were  printed.  At  13  yeai's  of  age  he  became  an  ap- 
prentice as  typesetter,  and  afterward  served  as  compositor  under  Azariah  C. 
Flagg's  editorship.  At  the  time  of  the  publication  of  Dr.  Beaumont's  book  in 
1833.  Allen  was  the  proprietor  and  editor  of  the  Northern  Intelligencer,  which  after- 
ward became  the  Northern  Sentinel.  The  book  was,  therefore,  published  in  this 
office. 


194 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  M'illinin  Bcaiiuirnit 


chine  is  endowed  with  a  vitality  whicli  modifies  its  movements  in  differ- 
ent states  of  the  system,  and  probably  produces  some  diversity  of  effects 
from  the  same  causes. 

I  had  opportunities  for  the  examination  of  the  interior  of  the  stomach 
and  its  secretions  which  have  never  before  been  so  fully  offered  to  any 
one.  This  most  important  organ,  its  secretions  and  its  operations,  have 
been  submitted  to  my  observation  in  a  very  extraordinary  manner,  in  a 
state  of  perfect  health,  and  for  years  in  succession.     I  have  availed  my- 


"This  engraving-  represents  the  ordinary  appearance  of  the  left  breast  and 
side,  the  aperture  filled  with  the  valve:  the  subject  in  an  erect  position."  (From 
a  wood  cut  in  the  original  edition  of  "Beaumont'.s  Experiments,"  1833.) 


self  of  the  opportunity  afforded  by  a  concurrence  of  circumstances  which 
probably  can  never  again  occur,  with  a  zeal  and  perseverance  proceeding 
from  motives  which  my  conscience  approves,  and  I  now  submit  the  result 
of  my  experiments  to  an  enlightened  public,  who,  I  doubt  not,  will  duly 
appreciate  the  truths  discovered  and  the  confirmation  of  opinions  which 
before  rested  on  conjecture. 

I  submit  a  body  of  facts  which  can  not  be  invalidated.  My  opinions 
may  be  doubted,  denied,  or  approved,  according  as  they  conflict  or  agree 
with  the  opinions  of  each  individual  who  may  read  them,  but  their  worth 


1833-1834 — Preliminarij  Observations 


195 


will  be  best  determined  bj-  tlie  foundation  on  which  they  rest — the  incon- 
trovertible facts.     .     .     . 

In  the  introduction  he  describes  the  occurrence  of  the  accident, 
the  treatment  of  the  wound,  and  gives  a  recital  of  the  trials  and 
tribulations  experienced  in  his  efforts  to  keep  St.  Martin  under 
observation.  Then  follow  three  half-page  cuts,  representing  (1) 
the  position  of  the  aperture  into  the  stomach  under  the  left  breast, 
"the  aperture  filled  with  the  valve:''    (2)   the  appearance  of  the 


"This  engraving  represents  the  appearance  of  the  aperture  with  the  valve 
depressed."  (From  a  wood  cut  in  the  original  edition  of  "Beaumont's  Experi- 
ments," 1833.) 

aperture,  with  the  valve  depressed;  (3)  the  portion  of  the  stomach 
prolapsed  through  the  aperture,  with  the  inner  surface  everted. 
The  cuts  are  very  crude,  and  convey  very  little  to  the  mind  of  the 
beholder.  Under  the  caption  of  "Preliminary  Observ^ations"  he 
states : 

I  consider  myself  but  an  humble  enquirer  after  truth — a  simple  experi- 
menter. And  if  I  have  been  led  to  conclusions  opposite  to  the  opinions 
of  many  who  have  been  considered  the  great  luminaries   of  physiology. 


196 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 


and,  in  some  instances,  from  all  the  professors  of  this  science,  I  hope  the 
claim  of  sincerity  will  be  conceded  to  me  when  I  say  that  such  difference 
of  opinion  has  been  forced  upon  me  by  the  convictions  of  experiment  and 
the  fair  deductions  of  reasoning. 

Following  this,  about  a  hundred  pages  are  devoted  to  his  deduc- 
tions, based  on  his  observations,  and  to  various  opinions  on  the 
subject  of  digestion  in  general,  and,  in  order  to  elucidate  these 
opinions,  he  arranges  his  discussion  into  the  following  heads  or 
sections : 


>iilM'/ 


"This  engraving  represents  a  portion  of  the  stomach  prolapsed  through  the 
aperture,  with  the  inner  surface  Inverted  and  spread  out  over  the  integuments 
of  the  side."  (From  a  wood  cut  in  the  original  edition  of  "Beaumont's  Experi- 
ments," 1833.) 

Section  1 — Of  Aliment ;  Section  2 — Of  Hunger  and  Thirst ;  Sec- 
tion 3 — 'Of  Satisfaction  and  Satiety;  Section  4 — Of  ]\Iastication, 
Insalivation,  and  Deglutition ;  Section  5 — Of  Digestion  by  the  Gas- 
tric Juice ;  Section  6 — Of  the  Appearance  of  the  Villous  Coat,  and 
of  the  Motions  of  the  Stomach;  Section  7 — Of  Chylification  and 
Uses  of  the  Bile  and  Pancreatic  Juice. 

A  careful  perusal  of  these  "sections"  in  the  original  work  is 
well  worth  while,  and  is  recommended  to  all  to  whom  the  work  is 
accessible.  Sections  5  and  6  are  of  unusual  interest  in  that  they 
contain  the  first  careful  descriptions  of  the  appearance  of  the  interior 


1838-1834— Extracts  from  Ohservations  197 

of  the  liiiman  stomach,  the  characteristics  of  the  gastric  juice,  and 
more  especially  the  peristalsis  of  the  stomach,  ^vhich  is  here  so 
vivicllv  described  that  we  have  been  able  to  add  but  little,  even  with 
the  aid  of  the  x-ray.  It  will  not  be  amiss  to  give  a  few  extracts 
from  these  sections. 

The  inner  coat  of  the  stomach,  in  its  natural  and  healthful  state,  is  of  a 
light  or  pale  pink  colour,  varying  in  its  hues  according  to  its  full  or 
empty  state.  It  is  of  a  soft  or  velvet-like  appearance,  and  is  constantly 
covered  with  a  very  thin,  transparent,  viscid  mucus,  lining  the  whole 
interior  of  the  organ. 

Immediately  beneath  the  mucus  coat,  and  apparently  incorporated  with 
the  villous  membrane,  appear  small,  spheroidal,  or  oval  shaped,  glandular 
bodies,  from  which  the  mucous  iiuid  appears  to  be  secreted.  .  .  .  On 
viewing  the  interior  of  the  stomach,  the  peculiar  formation  of  the  inner 
coats  are  distinctly  exhibited.  When  empty,  the  rugae  appear  irregularly 
folded  upon  each  other,  almost  in  a  quiescent  state,  of  a  pale  pink  colour, 
with  the  surface  merely  lubricated  with  mucus.  On  the  application  of 
aliment,  the  action  of  the  vessels  is  increased,  the  colour  brightens,  and 
the  vermicular  motions  excited.  The  small  gastric  papillfe  begin  to  dis- 
charge a  clear,  transparent  fluid  (the  alimentary  solvent),  which  continues 
abundantly  to  accumulate  as  aliment  is  received  for  digestion.     .     .     . 

Pure  gastric  juice,  when  taken  directly  out  of  the  stomach  of  a  healthy 
adult,  unmixed  with  any  other  fluid,  save  a  portion  of  the  mucus  of  the 
stomach  with  which  it  is  most  commonly  and  perhaps  always  combined,  is 
a  clear,  transparent  fluid,  inodorous,  a  little  saltish,  and  very  preceptibly 
acid.  Its  taste,  when  applied  to  the  tongue,  is  similar  to  thin  muci- 
laginous water  slightly  acidulated  with  muriatic  acid.  It  is  readily  dif- 
fusible in  water,  wine  or  spirits,  slightly  effervesces  with  alkalis,  and  is  an 
effectual  solvent  of  the  materia  alimentaria.  It  possesses  the  property  of 
coagulating  albumen  in  an  eminent  degree,  is  powerfully  antiseptic,  check- 
ing the  putrefaction  of  meat,  and  effectually  restorative  of  healthy  action 
when  applied  to  old,  foetid  sores  and  foul,  ulcerating  surfaces.     .     .     . 

The  gastric  juice  does  not  accumulate  in  the  cavity  of  the  stomach  until 
alimentary  matter  be  received  and  excite  its  vessels  to  discharge  their 
contents  for  the  immediate  purpose  of  digestion.  It  then  begins  to  exude 
from  its  proper  vessels,  and  increases  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of 
aliment  naturally  required  and  received.  A  definite  proportion  of  ali- 
ment, only,  can  be  perfectly  digested  in  a  given  quantity  of  fluid.     .     .     . 

The  human  stomach  is  furnished  with  muscular  fasciculi,  so  arranged 
as  to  shorten  its  diameter  in  every  direction.  By  the  alternate  contrac- 
tion and  relaxation  of  these  bands  a  great  variety  of  motion  is  induced  on 
this  organ,  sometimes  transversely  and  at  other  times  longitudinally. 
These  alternate  contractions  and  relaxations,  when  affecting  the  trans- 
verse diameter,  produce  what  are  called  vermicular  or  peristaltic  motions. 
The  effect  of  the  contraction  of  the  longitudinal  fibres  is  to  approximate 
the  splenic  and  pyloric  extremities.     When  they  all  act  together,  the  ef- 


198  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

feet  is  to  lessen  the  cavity  of  the  stomach,  and  to  press  upon  the  con- 
tained aliment,  if  there  be  any  in  the  stomach.  These  motions  not  only 
produce  a  constant  disturbance  or  chiirning  of  the  contents  of  this  organ, 
but  they  compel  them  at  the  same  time  to  revolve  around  the  interior, 
from  point  to  point  and  from  one  extremity  to  the  other.  In  addition  to 
these  motions,  there  is  a  constant  agitation  of  the  stomach  produced  by 
the  respiratory  muscles.     .     .     . 

The  ordinary  course  and  direction  of  the  revolutions  of  the  food  are. 
first,  after  passing  the  oesophageal  ring,  from  right  to  left,  along  the  small 
arch;  thence  through  the  large  curvature,  from  left  to  right.  The  bolus, 
as  it  enters  the  cardia,  turns  to  the  left,  passes  the  aperture,  descends 
into  the  splenic  extremity,  and  follows  the  great  curvature  towards  the 
pyloric  end.  It  then  returns  in  the  course  of  the  smaller  curvature,  makes 
its  appearance  again  at  the  aperture  in  its  descent  into  the  greater  curva- 
ture, to  perform  similar  revolutions.     .     .     . 

It  is  probable  that  from  the  very  commencement  of  chymification — from 
the  time  the  food  is  received  into  the  stomach  until  that  organ  becomes 
empty — portions  of  chyme  are  constantly  passing  into  the  duodenum 
through  the  pyloric  orifice  as  the  mass  is  presented  at  each  successive 
revolution.  .  .  .  The  passage  of  chyme  from  the  stomach  is  gradual. 
Portions  of  chyme,  as  they  become  formed,  pass  out  and  are  succeeded  by 
other  portions.  In  the  early  stages  the  passage  of  the  chyme  into  the 
duodenum  is  more  slowly  effected  than  in  the  later  stages.  At  first  it  is 
more  mixed  with  the  undigested  portions  of  aliment,  and  is  probably 
separated  with  considerable  difficulty  by  the  powers  of  the  stomach.  In 
the  later  stages,  as  the  whole  mass  becomes  more  chymified  and  fitted 
for  the  translation,  the  process  is  more  rapid,  and  is  accelerated  by  a 
peculiar  contraction  of  the  stomach,  a  description  of  which  will  be  found 
in  the  next  section.  It  appears  to  be  a  provision  of  nature  that  the  chyme, 
towards  the  latter  stages  of  its  formation,  should  become  more  stimulat- 
ing, and  operate  on  the  pyloric  extremity  of  the  stomach,  so  as  to  produce 
this  peculiar  contraction.  .  .  .  After  the  expulsion  of  the  last  particles 
of  chyme,  the  stomach  becomes  quiescent,  and  no  more  juice  is  secreted 
until  a  fresh  supply  of  food  is  presented  for  its  action,  or  some  other  me- 
chanical irritation  is  applied  to  its  internal  coat.     .     .     . 

Water  and  alcohol  are  not  affected  by  the  gastric  juice.  Fluids  of  all 
kinds  are  subject  to  the  same  exemption  unless  they  hold  in  solution  or 
suspension  some  animal  or  vegetable  aliment.  Fluids  pass  from  the 
stomach  very  soon  after  they  are  received,  either  by  absorption  or  through 
the  pylorus.     .     .     . 

I  think  I  am  warranted,  from  the  result  of  all  the  experiments,  in  say- 
ing that  the  gastric  jtiice,  so  far  from  being  "inert  as  water."  as  some 
authors  assert,  is  the  most  general  solvent  in  nature  of  alimentary  mat- 
ter— even  the  hardest  bone  cannot  withstand  its  action.     .     . 

With  respect  to  the  agent  of  chymification — that  principle  of  life  which 
converts  the  crude  aliment  into  chyme,  and  renders  it  fit  for  the  action  of 
the  hepatic  and  pancreatic  fiuids,  and   final  assimilation  and  conversion 


1833-183i~More  Fact  and  Less  Theory  199 

into  fluids  and  the  various  tissues  of  the  animal  organism — no  part  of 
physiology  has  perhaps  so  much  engaged  the  attention  of  mankind  and 
exercised  the  ingenuity  of  physiologists.  It  has  been  a  fruitful  source  of 
theoretical  speculation  from  the  father  of  medicine  down  to  the  present 
age.  It  would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  attempt  to  refute  the  doctrines  of  the 
older  writers  on  this  subject.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  theories  of  Con- 
coction, Putrefaction,  Trituration,  Fermentation  and  Maceration  have  been 
prostrated  in  the  dust  before  the  lights  of  science  and  the  deductions  of 
experiments.     .     .     . 

His  results  reveal  not  only  the  great  pains  with  which  he  had 
worked,  the  remarkable  care  with  which  he  interpreted  his  findings, 
but  a  thorough  knowledge  as  well  of  the  investigations  of  others 
along  these  lines.  He  showed,  for  instance,  an  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  works  of  Spallanzani,  Stevens,  Scopoli,  Carminati,  Viridet, 
AVerner,  Sydenham,  Hunter,  Marquart,  Vauquelin,  Tiedemann  and 
Gmelin,  Leuret,  Lassaigne,  Montegre,  Prout,  Philip,  Jackson,  Aber- 
nathy,  Broussais,  Paris,  and  Bostock.  When  there  was  occasion  to 
take  issue  with  other  investigators,  he  did  so  without  the  slightest 
hesitation,  and  in  terms  w^hich  showed  his  great  devotion  not  only 
to  the  subject  of  physiology,  but  to  medical  science  in  general.  In 
a  discussion  of  theories  expounded  by  other  investigators,  he  gave 
expression,  for  example,  to  the  folloA^dng  bit  of  philosophy,  which 
is  quite  characteristic : 

It  is  unfortunate  for  the  interest  of  physiological  science  that  it  gen- 
erally falls  to  the  lot  of  men  of  vivid  imaginations  and  great  powers  of 
mind  to  become  restive  under  the  restraints  of  a  tedious  and  routine 
mode  of  thinking,  and  to  strike  out  into  bold  and  original  hypotheses  to 
elucidate  the  operations  of  nature,  or  to  account  for  the  phenomena  that 
are  constantly  submitted  to  their  inspection.  The  process  of  developing 
truth  by  patient  and  persevering  investigation,  experiment  and  research 
is  incompatible  with  their  notions  of  unrestrained  genius.  The  drudgery 
of  science  they  leave  to  humbler  and  more  unpretending  contributors. 
The  flight  of  genius  is,  however,  frequently  erratic.  The  bold  and  original 
opinions  of  Brown  for  a  long  time  unsettled  the  practice  of  medicine,  and 
the  later  opinions  of  Montegre  and  others  have  had  a  like  effect  on  the 
sister  science  of  physiology.  It  is,  however,  a  right  which  men  of  genius 
possess,  in  common  with  others,  to  propose  hypotheses,  and  to  support 
them  with  such  arguments  and  deductions  as  they  may  have  in  their 
power  to  bring.  Great  caution  and  circumspection  ought,  however,  to  be 
observed.  It  is  dangerous  to  unsettle  long  established  truths,  for  it  is 
difficult  to  limit  the  extent  of  error.  The  gratification  of  a  morbid  desire 
to  be  distinguished  as  the  propagator  of  new  principles  in  philosophy, 
or  as  the  head  of  a  new  sect,  is  not  the  only  result  to  be  expected  from 


200  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiani  BeauDiont 

such  heresies.  New  opinions  or  doctrines,  whether  true  or  false,  will 
have  admirers  and  followers,  and  will  lead  to  practical  results.  And  the 
errors  of  one  man  may  lead  thousands  into  the  same  vortex. 

These,  of  course,  are  designed  as  general  remarks,  and  I  have  no  wish 
to  apply  them,  so  far  as  bad  motives  are  inferred,  to  the  highly  respect- 
able gentlemen  mentioned  above.  Honest  objections,  no  doubt,  are  enter- 
tained against  the  doctrine  of  digestion  by  the  gastric  juice.  That  they 
are  so  entertained  by  these  gentlemen,  I  have  no  doubt.  And  I  cheer- 
fully concede  to  them  the  merit  of  great  ingenuity,  talents  and  learning 
In  raising  objections  to  the  commonly  received  hypothesis,  and  ability 
in  maintaining  their  peculiar  opinions.  But  we  ought  not  to  allow  our- 
selves to  be  seduced  by  the  ingenuity  of  argument  or  the  blandishments 
of  style.  Truth,  like  beauty,  when  "unadorned  is  adorned  the  most."  and 
in  prosecuting  these  experiments  and  inquiries  I  believe  I  have  been 
guided  by  its  light.  Facts  are  more  persuasive  than  arguments,  however 
ingeniously  made,  and  by  their  eloqtience  I  hope  I  have  been  able  to 
plead  for  the  support  of  those  doctrines  which  have  had  for  their  advo- 
cates such  men  as  Sydenham,  Htmter,  Spallanzani.  Richerand,  Abernathy, 
Broussais,  Philip.  Paris.  Bostock.  the  Heidelberg  and  Paris  Professors, 
Dunglison,  and  a  host  of  other  luminaries  in  the  science  of  physiology. 

Following-  section  7.  he  records  in  greatest  detail  the  four  series 
of  experiments  conducted  at  ]\Lackinae.  Fort  Crawford.  Washing- 
ton. D.  C.  and  Plattsbiirgh,  numbering  two  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  in  all.  These  are  followed  by  the  famous  table  showing  the 
mean  time  of  digestion  of  the  different  articles  of  diet,  both  in  the 
stomach  and  on  the  bath,  a  table  which  has  not  been  greatly 
improved  upon  to  the  present  day.  He  ends  the  work  with  deduc- 
tions drawn  from  the  whole,  and  which  he  entitles  "Inferences 
From  the  Foregoing  Experiments  and  Observations."  These  are 
worthy  of  reproduction  in  full : 

1.  That  animal  and  farinaceous  aliments  are  more  easy  of  digestion 
than  vegetable. 

2.  That  the  susceptibility  of  digestion  does  not.  however,  depend  alto- 
gether upon  natural  or  chemical  distinctions. 

3.  That  digestion  is  facilitated  by  minuteness  of  division  and  tender- 
ness of  fibre,  and  retarded  by  opposite  qualities. 

4.  That  the  ultimate  principles  of  aliment  are  always  the  same,  from 
whatever  food  they  may  be  obtained. 

5.  That  the  action  of  the  stomach  and  its  fluids  are  the  same  on  all 
kinds  of  diet. 

6.  That  the  digestibility  of  aliment  does  not  depend  upon  the  quantity 
of  nutrient  principles  that  it  contains. 

7.  That  the  quantity  of  food  generally  taken  is  more  than  the  wants 
of  the  system  require,  and  that  such  excess,  if  persevered  in,  generally 


1833-1834 — Deductions  from  His  Experiments  201 

produces  not  only  functional  aberration,  but  diseases  of  the  coats  of  the 
stomach. 

8.  That  bulk  as  well  as  nutriment  is  necessary  to  the  articles  of  diet. 

9.  That  oily  food  is  difficult  of  digestion,  though  it  contains  a  larg'3 
proportion  of  nutrient  principles. 

10.  That  the  time  required  for  the  digestion  of  food  is  various,  de- 
pending upon  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  food,  state  of  the  stomach, 
etc.;  but  that  the  time  ordinarily  required  for  the  disposal  of  a  moderate 
meal  of  the  fibrous  parts  of  meat,  with  bread,  etc.,  is  from  three  to  three 
and  a  half  hours. 

11.  That  solid  food  of  a  certain  texture  is  easier  of  digestion  than  fluid. 

12.  That  stimulating  condiments  are  injurious  to  the  healthy  stomach. 

13.  That  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  always  produces  disease  of  the 
stomach  if  persevered  in. 

14.  That  hunger  is  the  effect  of  distention  of  the  vessels  that  secrete 
the  gastric  juice. 

15.  That  the  processes  of  mastication,  insalivation,  and  deglutition,  in 
an  abstract  point  of  view,  do  not  in  any  way  affect  the  digestion  of  food; 
or,  in  other  words,  when  food  is  introduced  directly  into  the  stomach  in 
a  finely  divided  state  without  these  previous  steps  it  is  readily  and  as 
perfectly  digested  as  when  they  have  been  taken. 

16.  That  saliva  does  not  possess  the  properties  of  an  alimentary  solvent. 

17.  That  the  first  stage  of  digestion  is  effected  in  the  stomach. 

18.  That  the  natural  temperature  of  the  stomach  is  100°  F. 

19.  That  the  temperature  is  not  elevated  by  the  ingestion  of  food. 

20.  That  exercise  elevates  the  temperature,  and  that  sleep  or  rest,  in 
a  recumbent  position,  depresses  it. 

21.  That  the  agent  of  chymification  is  the  Gastric  Juice. 

22.  That  it  acts  as  a  solvent  of  food  and  alters  its  properties. 

23.  That  its  action  is  facilitated  by  the  warmth  and  motions  of  the 
stomach. 

24.  That  it  contains  free  Muriatic  Acid  and  some  other  active  chemi- 
cal principles. 

25.  That  it  is  never  found  free  in  the  gastric  cavity,  but  is  always 
excited  to  discharge  itself  by  the  introduction  of  food  or  other  irritants. 

26.  That  it  is  secreted  from  vessels  distinct  from  the  mucous  follicles. 

27.  That  it  is  seldom  obtained  pure,  but  is  generally  mixed  with  mu- 
cus and  sometimes  with  saliva.  When  pure,  it  is  capable  of  being  kept 
for  months,  and  perhaps  for  years. 

28.  That  it  coagulates  albumen,  and  afterwards  dissolves  the  coagula. 

29.  That  it  checks  the  progress  of  putrefaction. 

30.  That  the  pure  gastric  juice  is  fluid,  clear,  and  transparent,  with- 
out odour,  little  salt,  and  perceptibly  acid. 

31.  That,  like  other  chemical  agents,  it  commences  its  action  on  food 
as  soon  as  it  comes  in  contact  with  it. 

32.  That  it  is  capable  of  combining  with  a  certain  and  fixed  quantity 


202  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^yiI]i(n)l  Beaumont 

of  food,  and,  when  more  aliment  is  presented  for  its  action  tlian  it  will 
dissolve,  disturbance  of  the  stomach,  or  "indigestion,"  will  ensue. 

33.  That  it  becomes  intimately  mixed  and  blended  with  the  ingestsR 
in  the  stomach  by  the  motions  of  that  organ. 

34.  That  it  is  invariably  the  same  substance,  modified  only  by  ad- 
mixture with  other  fluids. 

35.  That  gentle  exercise  facilitates  the  digestion  of  food. 

36.  That  bile  is  not  ordinarily  found  in  the  stomach,  and  is  not  com- 
monly necessary  for  the  digestion  of  food;  but 

37.  That,  when  oily  food  has  been  used,  it  assists  its  digestion. 

38.  That  chyme  is  homogenous,  but  variable  in  its  colour  and  consist- 
ence. 

39.  That  toward  the  latter  stages  of  chymification  it  becomes  more 
acid  and  stimulating,  and  passes  more  rapidly  from  the  stomach. 

40.  That  water,  ardent  spirits,  and  most  other  fluids  are  not  affected 
by  the  gastric  juice,  but  pass  from  the  stomach  soon  after  they  have  been 
received. 

41.  That  the  inner  coat  of  the  stomach  is  of  a  pale  pink  colour,  vary- 
ing in  its  hues  according  to  its  full  or  empty  state. 

42.  That  in  health  it  is  constantly  sheathed  with  a  mucus  coat. 

43.  That  the  gastric  juice  and  mucus  are  dissimilar  in  their  physical 
and  chemical  properties. 

44.  That  the  appearance  of  the  interior  of  the  stomach  in  disease  is 
essentially  different  from  that  of  its  healthy  state. 

45.  That  the  motions  of  the  stomach  produce  a  constant  churning  of 
its  contents,  and  admixture  of  food  and  gastric  juice. 

46.  That  these  motions  are  in  two  directions — transversely  and  longi- 
tudinall5^ 

47.  That  the  expulsion  of  the  chyme  is  assisted  by  a  transverse  band, 
etc. 

48.  That  chyle  is  formed  in  the  duodenum  and  small  intestines  by  the 
action  of  bile  and  pancreatic  juice  on  the  chyme. 

49.  That  crude  chyle  is  a  semi-transparent,  whey  coloured  fluid. 

50.  That  it  is  further  changed  by  the  action  of  the  lacteals  and  mesen- 
teric glands.  This  is  only  an  inference  from  the  other  facts.  It  has  not 
been  the  subject  of  experiment. 

51.  That  no  other  fluid  produces  the  same  effect  on  food  that  gastric 
juice  does,  and  that  it  is  the  only  solvent  aliment. 

The  full  import  of  these  ohservations  and  deductions  can  be 
properly  appreciated  only  when  one  takes  into  consideration  the 
meagerness  and  uncertainty  of  our  knowledge  of  digestion  up  to 
that  period,  and  by  comparison  with  the  most  recent  developments 
of  modern  times.  The  status  of  our  knowledge  at  that  time  is  pretty 
well  .summed  up  in  Professor  Silliman's  letter  (page  180).  The 
experiments  of  Eeaumur  on  buzzards  and  Stevens  on  the  human 


1833-1834 — Importance  of  His  Investigations  203 

being  during  the  middle  and  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century 
had  simply  revealed  that  there  was  a  process  of  solution  in  the  stom- 
ach— at  any  rate,  that  substances  contained  in  perforated  tubes  and 
balls  were  dissolved  out  and  liberated.  It  remained  for  Spallan- 
zani,  in  1783,  to  prove  the  real  solvent  powers  of  the  gastric  juice 
within  and  without  the  body  by  means  of  fluid  obtained  by  the 
swallowing  of  sponges  attached  to  strings.  He  gave  to  this  fluid 
the  name  of  gastric  .juice,  and  established  the  theory  of  its  chem- 
ical powers.  Werner,  Hunter,  and  others  had  shown  the  gas- 
tric juice  to  be  acid  in  reaction,  but  it  remained  for  Prout,  in  1824, 
to  determine  that  the  acidity  was  due  to  free  hydrochloric  acid. 
Little  more  than  this  was  definitely  known  at  this  time.  A  com- 
parison of  Beaumont's  deductions  with  those  of  the  most  recent 
workers  on  the  physiology  of  digestion  shows  that  he  anticipated 
some  of  their  best  results,  notably  the  researches  of  Pavlow  on  the 
work  of  the  digestive  glands,  Cannon  on  the  mechanics  of  digestion, 
and  others. 

In  the  words  of  Vaughan,  "he  made  such  an  exact  study  of  the 
physical  and  chemical  natures  of  the  gastric  juice  that,  with  the 
exception  of  the  discovery  of  pepsin,  the  closest  research  of  modern 
times  has  added  but  little  to  the  work  done  by  him." 

The  last  word  on  the  last  page  of  Beaumont's  book  is  an  ex- 
pression of  regret  at  the  incompleteness  of  his  work : 

I  regret  exceedingly  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  returns  from 
Professor  Berzelius,  to  wliom  I  transmitted  about  seven  months  ago  a 
bottle  of  gastric  juice  for  chemical  examination.  I  could  not.  however, 
consistently  with  the  expectations  and  wishes  of  my  friends,  further  delay 
the  publication  of  these  experiments. 

The  immediate  sale  of  the  book  seemed  very  satisfactory,  though 
the  first  edition  was  probably  a  small  one.^  On  December  30th 
the  secretary  of  the  navy,  Levi  Woodbury,  wrote  Dr.  Beaumont : 

I  have  to  request  that  you  will  be  so  obliging  as  to  furnish  the  depart- 
ment with  twelve  copies  of  your  work  upon  the  "Gastric  Juice  and  Physi- 
ology of  Digestion"  for  use  of  the  naval  hospitals  and  service,  to  be  paid 
on  delivery. 

He  was  evidently  considerably  disappointed  in  the  small  number 
of  copies  purchased  by  the  Government,  as  will  be  shoAvn  later  in 
one  of  his  communications  to  the  Navy  and  War  Departments.     In 

^  Osier  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  Beaumont  wirote  the  surg-eon-general 
that  the  first  edition  was  to  be  one  thousand  copies,  but  states  in  the  preface  of 
the  second  edition  that  the  first  had  been  three  thousand  copies. 


204  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^YilI^am  Beaumont 

order  to  show  how  favorably  the  work  was  received,  however,  by 
laymen  as  well  as  physicians,  I  present  here  a  number  of  lettere 
written  by  some  of  the  famous  men  of  the  day,  who  were  evidently 
close  friends-'  of  Dr.  Beaumont.  He  had  sent  to  each  of  these 
gentlemen  a  copy  of  his  book,  in  all  probability  with  a  special 
liinding,  for  he  states  elsewhere  that  he  had  fifty  copies  bound  in 
full  sheep. 

Peru  (N.  Y.),  5  Decbr.,  1S33. 
Dr.  William  Beaumont. 

Dear  Sir:  I  thank  you  for  your  volume  of  "Experiments  and  obser- 
vations on  the  Gastric  juice  and  the  Physiology  of  Digestion,"  and,  al- 
though I  have  no  pretention  to  medical  science,  I  have  read  it  with  great 
interest  and  satisfaction.  If  it  had  been  a  mere  theoretical  treatise  on 
that  difficult  and  mysterious  subject,  I  should  not  presume  to  express  an 
opinion  on  its  merits,  however  plausible  and  ingenious.  But  the  facts 
and  demonstrations  exhibited  in  your  patient  and  laborious  series  of 
Experiments,  the  clear  and  discriminating  inferences  which  you  deduce, 
together  with  your  modest  history  of  the  extraordinary  case  of  Alexis 
St.  Martin,  excite  my  admiration  and  respect. 

The   work  cannot  fail   to  correct  false  theories,  to   render   a  valuable 

accession   to  the  common  fund   of  useful   knowledge,   and   to   place   your 

name  on  the  Roll  of  public  benefactors.     With  great  respect  and  cordial 

esteem 

Dear  Sir,  yr.  obedient  sei'vt. 

Jonas  Platt,  Judge. i" 

Washington,  Dec.  31,  1833. 
Dear  Sir:  I  thank  you  for  the  work  you  have  presented.  It  is  no  less 
curious  and  valuable.  By  your  skillful  management  of  a  most  desperate 
wound  you  have  been  enabled  to  reveal  some  of  the  most  important  func- 
tions of  the  human  system.  And  I  sincerely  trust  that  your  useful  and 
disinterested  labors  may  add  to  your  professional  character  and  advance- 
Respectfully  your  obt.  Svt. 

Lewis  Cass.h 

Jan.  1,  1834. 
Mr.    Van    Bureni-    presents    his    compliments    to    Dr.    Beaumont,    and 
thanks  him  very  kindly  for  a  copy  of  his  work,  which  Mr.  V.  B.  was  very 
desirous  of  possessing. 


"Among  his  papers  I  found  a  large  nnmlier  of  calling-  cards  from  these  and 
many  other  men  of  great  prominence. 

i""The  friendship  of  Jonas  Piatt  dated  back  to  the  period  of  Beaumont's  resi- 
dence in  and  around  Plattsburgh  during  the  War  of  1812.  He  had  been  judge  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  general  of  cavalry  in  the  state  militia,  and  senator.  Ad- 
vance in  years  led  him  to  retire  in  1829  to  his  farm  in  Peru,  seven  miles  from 
Plattsburgh.  He  is  said  to  have  been  "one  of  the  most  distinguished  men  in  the 
state — wise,  upright,  and  patriotic,  as  well  as  learned,  eloquent,  and  able."  His 
portrait  now  occupies  a  prominent  place  in  the  capitol  in  Albany. 

n  Secretary  of  war  from  1831  to  1836. 

1- Martin  Van  Buren.  at  this  time  vice-president  of  the  United  States. 


1833-1834 — -Praise  from  Coidemporuries  205 

27  January,  1834. 

R.  H.  Wildeis  will  not  delay  his  acknowledgement  to  Dr.  Beaumont 
until  he  has  had  an  opportunity  of  reading  the  whole  of  the  Volume  the 
Dr.  has  had  the  politeness  to  send  him.  Though  his  knowledge  of  Physi- 
ology is  very  slight,  he  hopes  it  is  enough  to  understand  the  value  of  the 
experiments  made,  partially  at  least,  and  the  time,  industry  and  expense 
they  must  have  cost. 

The  subject  is  not  entirely  new  to  him,  as  his  attention  was  called  to 
it  a  year  since  by  his  friend,  Dr.  Dunglison,  and  a  notice  of  the  very  in- 
teresting Character  of  the  experiments,  which  was  published  in  the  In- 
telligencer. 

An  opportunity  of  trying  such  is  of  so  very  rare  occurrence  that  the 
world  is  greatly  indebted  to  Dr.  B.  for  having  prosecuted  them  so  long 
and  patiently,  and  with  such  success.  R.  H.  W.  desires  to  return  his  sin- 
cere thanks  to  Dr.  Beaumont  for  so  rich  a  contribution  to  the  Stock  of 
human  knowledge  on  a  very  obscure  and -highly  curious  topic,  and  to  as- 
sure the  Dr.  of  his  wish  to  aid  by  every  means  in  his  power  in  making 
the  work  as  extensively  known  as  it  deserves  to  be. 

Sexate  Chamber,  Jany.  28th,  1834. 
Dear  Sik:  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  yotir  very 
acceptable  book,  containing  "Experiments  and  observations  on  the  gastric 
juice  and  the  physiology  of  digestion,"  and  to  express  the  admiration 
which  I  have  felt  in  following  the  course  of  the  curious  and  interesting 
experiments  which  yoti  have  made.  Very  respectftillj-.  Sir, 
Yr.  Obedient  Servant, 

Thomas  H.  Bextox.i* 

Washixgtox.  4th  Feby.,  1834.' 
Dear  Sir:  I  have  received  the  Copy  of  your  interesting  work,  with 
which  I  had  already  made  myself  acquainted.  Be  pleased  to  accept  my 
thanks  for  your  attention.  I  deem  it  a  work  of  great  Interest  and  im- 
portance; highly  creditable  to  yourself  for  the  manner  in  which  the  ex- 
periments are  conducted,  and  likely  to  attract  a  great  degree  of  attention 
throughout  the  world.     I  am.  Dear  Sir,  with  high  respect. 

Faithfully  yours, 

E.  Everett.  15 

Washixgtox,  5th  February,  1834. 
Sir:     I  have  received,  and  looked  over  as  far  as  my  leisure  wotild  per- 
mit, the  volume  of  "Experiments"  you  were  so  kind  as  to  send  me. 

In  whatever  light  the  book  may  be  viewed,  it  is  truly  a  work  of  most 


i"R.  H.  Wilde,  member  of  Congress  from.  Georgia,  was  made  attorney-general 
of  his  state  in  1815  and  representative  in  1827.  He  was  author  as  well  as  states- 
man, having  composed  the  popular  song,  "My  Life  is  Like  the  Summer  Rose," 
and  made  important  comtributions  to  the  study  of  Dante's  life. 

1*  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  on  Missouri's  admission  to  the  Union  in  1820.  was 
made  senator,  and  held  the  office  for  thirty  consecutive  years,  during  which  he 
ranked  with  Calhoun,  Clay,  and  Webster,  and  was  considered  Calhoun's  most 
formidable   opponent   in   the   Senate. 

-5  Edward  Everett  was  at  this  time  a  member  of  Congress,  and  showed  much 
interest  in  the  work  in  which  Beaumont  had  been  engaged. 


206  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiant  Beaumont 


"^       /^'i'^At^, 


o/^^.^.     '^Zi^/Tfty^ 


'''2^<-^gtu,_ 


A  letter  from  Senator  Thomas  Hart  Benton,  expressing  his  appreciation  of  a 
volnme  of  "Beaum'ont's  Experiments." 

surpassing  interest,  and  I  am  at  a  loss  for  terms  to  convey  my  sense  of 
the  obligations  under  which  you  have  placed,  not  your  profession  only, 
but  the  whole  family  of  man.  The  efforts  and  the  sacrifices  required  to 
procure  and  retain  St.  Martin,  the  patient  perseverance  bestowed  for  years 
on  a  course  of  experiments,  which  must  have  received  the  most  delicate 
and  unremitted  attention,  as  well  as  the  important  and  peculiar  nature 
of  your  discoveries,  cannot  fail  to  be  appreciated  by  intelligent  men  in 
all  countries  and  in  all  future  time,  for  no  one  can  rise  from  a  perusal 
of  the  work  without  an  abiding  sense  of  gratitude  for  the  laborious  and 
well  directed  researches  of  its  author.  I  am  very  respectfully, 
Yr.  obliged  and  obt.  svt. 

P.    C.    FULLER.^G 


i«  Philo  C.  Fuller.  Geneseo.  N.  T.,  member  of  Congress  1833-36.  assistant  post- 
master-general 1841-43,  comptroller  state  of  New  York  18a0-51. 


1833-1S34— Encomiums  Bestowed  on   TT'or/.-  207 

March  6,  1834. 
Mr.  Justice  Storyi'  begs  Doctor  Beaumont  to  accept  his  thanlvs  for  the 
valuable  present  of  his  recent  work  on  the  Gastric  Juice  and  the  Physi- 
ology of  Digestion.  The  subject  is  full  of  importance  and  interest,  and 
Mr.  S.  hopes  soon  to  have  leisure  to  read  the  whole  work  with  care,  and 
has  received  a  great  deal  of  instruction  and  pleasure  from  the  portion 
of  its  contents  which  he  has  been  able  to  peruse.  Mr.  S.  deems  it  an 
honor  to  have  an  opportunity  of  placing  in  his  library  such  a  work  from 
the  kindness  of  its  author. 

Paris.  16  March,  1834. 
My  Deab  Sir:  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  Dr.  Beaumont's  book 
of  experiments,  of  which  I  have  kept  one  copy  and  given  the  others  to 
Orfila,is  the  Dean  of  the  faculty  of  medicine,  to  the  Academy  of  Science 
of  the  Institute,  and  to  the  Academy  of  the  body  of  which  I  am  a  member. 
In  the  Academy  of  Science  it  has  been  referred  to  a  committee  to  de- 
termine whether  any  additional  experiments  to  those  reported  by  Dr. 
Beaumont  are  necessary  for  the  interest  of  medical  science,  and,  if  so, 
whether  it  will  be  expedient  to  send  for  the  man  here,  or  to  request  that 
the  experiments  be  made  in  the  United  States.  As  soon  as  the  report  is 
made,  I  will  send  it  to  you. 

Edward  Livixgstox.io 

To  all  of  these  panegyrics  from  illustrious  friends  were  added 
the  cheering  words  of  his  good  ^^-if  e  Deborah  : 

Tomorrow  I  shall  hear  from  you.  and  know  if  you  have  seen  all  the 
mighty  puffs.  ...  I  need  not  say  how  much  I  feel  gratified  by  the 
encomiums  bestowed  upon  your  work  by  the  public.  I  see  that  one  of  the 
editors  pronounced  you  a  great  scholar.  That  was  particularly  pleasing, 
as  on  that  point  .  .  .  Samuel  was  most  uneasy,  as  he  said  you  nor 
himself  were  either  scholars.  May  you  see  all  your  wishes  accomplished, 
and  be  ready  ere  long  to  settle  down  quietly  with  your  family,  who  all 
love  you  so  much,  is  the  prayer  of  your  wife. 

In  .spite  of  all  these  encomiums,  he  was,  however,  doomed  to  a 
certain  degree  of  disappointment,  as  might  be  expected  of  one  who 
had  become  so  deeply  engrossed  in  his  subject  that  it  was  difficult 
for  him  to  understand  why  every  one  could  not  feel  the  same  in- 
terest. As  mentioned  in  a  former  letter,  he  wa&  desirous  of  havings 
the  book  copyrighted  and  published  in  England.  AYitli  this  in 
view,  Professor  Jones,  on  behalf  of  Dr.  Beaumont,  communicated 
\\\\\i  a  friend,  evidently  an  author,  in  England,  requesting  him  to 


1''  Joseph  Story,  associate  justice  of  the  L'nited  States  Supreme  Court. 

18  Mathieu  Joseph  Bonaventure  Orflla  was  founder  of  the  science  of  toxicology, 
professor  of  chemistry  and  toxicology,  and  for  eighteen  years  dean  of  the  medi- 
cal faculty  in  Paris. 

1"  Ambassador  to  France. 


208  Life  and  Letters  uf  Dr.  ]ViUi(nn  Beaumont 

secure  a  publisher  in  Loudon.  The  friend  responded  Avith  great 
regret  and  much  surprise  that  he  had  been  unable  to  obtain  a 
publisher,  and  inclosed  the  following  notes,  which  he  received  from 
two  of  them  in  response  to  his  offer : 

Fleet  St.,  Feb.  20th,  1834. 
Dear  Sir:     I  have  returned  Beaumont's  Experiments,  as  I  do  not  feel 
inclined  to  make  an  offer  for  it. 

Your  obed.  Servt., 

L.  Highly. 

356  Str.\M),  Feb.  24th,  1834. 
Sir:      I  am  much  obliged  by  the  offer  of  Beaumont's  experiments,  but 
regret  to  inform  you  it  is  not  a  work  which  I  should  like  to  reprint. 
I   remain  yours  obediently, 

Henry  Rexsiiaw. 

Dr.  Jones  wrote  Dr.  Beaumont  concerning  the  matter : 

I  herewith  transmit  to  you  a  letter  and  papers  received  from  Mr.  Vail, 
by  which  you  will  perceive  that  he  has  not  been  inattentive  to  the  re- 
quest made  relating  to  your  book.  It  would  have  afforded  me  the  most 
sincere  pleasure  to  have  aided  you  in  producing  a  more  welcome  result; 
it  would  seem,  however,  that  the  deposits  have  been  removed  in  England 
as  well  as  with  us.  It  is  a  known  fact,  however,  that  the  publishing  busi- 
ness has  been  much  depressed  for  two  or  three  years  past,  both  in 
England  and  France.  That  your  labors  will  be  appreciated  and  recorded 
to  your  honor  by  the  scientific  physiologists,  I  am  well  convinced,  and 
I  am  sure,  also,  that  this  will  be  very  welcome  remuneration;  it  is 
one,  however,  which  will  not  "make  the  pot  boil" — a  thing  of  some  im- 
portance in  our  mundane  transactions.  It  is  really  as  necessary  to  have 
something  for  the  gastric  juice  to  act  upon  as  it  is  to  know  how  it  op- 
crates. 

That  Dr.  Beaumont  had  not  been  neglecting  the  material  side  of 
life  Avhile  so  deeply  engrossed  in  the  fascinating  problems  of  physi- 
ology, that  he  was  providing  his  family  with  that  "something  for 
the  gastric  juice  to  act  upon"  at  the  same  time  that  he  was  providing 
the  world  with  a  knowledge  of  "how  it  operates,"  is  pretty  well 
demonstrated  by  a  "memo"  Avhich  he  jotted  down  just  before 
leaving  Plattsburgh  on  December  8,  1833,  calling  attention  to  his 
belongings : 

I  own  a  lot  of  Land  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  M.  T.,  about  140  acres,  near 
Fort  Crawford;  title  good;  Warrantee  deed,  duly  executed  by  Mr.  H. 
Dousman,  and  on  the  records  at  the  Clerk's  office  of  Crawford  City,  Michi- 
gan Ter;  a  house  built  thereon  and  a  small  Stable;  value  of  the  property 


1833-1834— SometUng  to  "Make  the  Pot  Boil"  209 

$1200,  and  increasing.  T.  P.  Burnett,  Esqr.,  of  Prairie  du  Chien,  my  Agent 
and  attorney  for  Renting,  paying  taxes,  etc.  Rent  due  from  1st  of  April, 
1833,  at  about  150  dollars  for  the  whole,  conditional  with  circumstances 
and  also  an  acct.  of  $20  against  Mr.  Cochran  for  collection. 

A  city  Lot  at  Green  Bay;  title  Warranted  by  Daniel  Whitney,  Esqr.,  of 
Green  Bay.    Deed  on  Record  in  Clerks  office.  Brown  County,  M.  T. 

Mortgage  transferred  from  Bailey  and  Hohns,  N.  Y.,  on  farms  formerly 
belonging  to  the  heirs  of  N.  Smith,  in  the  hands  of  Judge  Haile,  and  also 
Mr.  Wm.  Swetland's  receipt  for  the  money,  $175,  paid  by  me  through  Mr. 
Haile;  he  has  the  receipt. 

My  library.  Surgical  Instruments,  Notes  of  experiments,  drawings,  and 
engravings  of  Stomach,  etc.,  with  Dr.  Samuel  Beaumont.  He  has  also 
Memorandums  and  instructions  for  superintending  the  distribution  and 
sale  of  my  Book  of  Expts.,  etc. 

Mortgages,  Deed  Recpts.,  old  accounts.  Public  and  miscellaneous  pa- 
pers, correspondence  with  sundry  persons  on  subject  of  my  publication, 
etc.,  in  a  Black  Leather  Trunk.  Alexis  Contract,  commencing  December 
1st,  1833,  for  two  years  at  $200  per  annum  unless  sooner  discharged.  He 
has  $10  due  him  on  old  contract.  He  drew  his  pay  as  Sergeant  in  the 
U.  S.  Ay.  up  to  Nov.  1st,  1833,  of  Major  Kerby,  Paymstr.  U.  S.  A.,  of 
Brownville,  at  the  rate  of  $12  monthly  pay — $2.50  per  mo.  for  clothing  and 
10  cts.  per  day  for  subsistance.  I  have  drawn  my  pay  of  Maj.  Kerby,  pay- 
master, to  the  1st  of  Nov.,  1833.  I  have  drawn  from  the  government  my 
regular  allowance  for  fuel  and  quarters  from  the  1st  of  July,  1833,  to  the 
time  I  leave  Plattsburgh,  and  also  my  transportation  from  N.  York  to 
Plattsburgh  on  July  1st,  per  order.  I  shall  be  entitled  to  transportation 
from  Plattsburgh  to  Washington  when  I  shall  have  accomplished  the 
journey. 

My  anatomical  preparations  are  in  Drs.  Mower  and  Kane's  office. 

I  am  not  aware  that  I  owe  anybody  a  cent,  except  Mr.  Thos.  Green 
and  Mr.  E.  Smith  when  he  has  finished  binding  my  Books.  Will  then 
settle  to  8  cts.  for  all  he  binds  in  board  and  28  cts.  for  50  bound  full  in 
Sheep,  and  perhaps  a  few  dollars  for  contingencies.  Dr.  Samuel  will 
settle  with  him. 


CHAPTER  X. 

1834-1835. 

Some  time  prior  to  this  Dr.  Beaumont  conceived  the  idea  of 
asking  aid  of  the  Government  to  remunerate  him  for  the  expenses 
already  incurred,  and  to  enable  him  to  continue  his  experiments  on 
digestion,  keeping  constantly  in  mind  the  possibility  of  taking 
Alexis  abroad  for  further  investigation.  Not  being  a  politician,  he 
took  advantage  of  his  close  association  with  those  who  knew  the  ins 
and  outs  at  AYashington.  AYhenever  a  new  idea  occurred  to  him, 
Surgeon-General  Lovell  was  the  first  one  to  whom  he  communicated 
it.  and  so  in  this  case.  Therefore,  even  before  leaving  Plattsburgh, 
he  informed  Dr.  Lovell  of  his  intentions,  and  received  promptly 
from  him  this  excellent  ad^dce : 

As  to  the  application  to  Congress,  the  best  and  most  efficient  aid  your 
friends  can  give  you  is  to  interest  individual  members  to  take  up  and 
urge  the  matter  through.  Memorials  and  testimonials  formally  presented 
to  Congress  soon  find  their  way  into  the  table  drawer  or  breeches  pocket 
of  the  chairman  of  some  committee,  where  they  sleep  qtiietly  unless  the 
constituents  make  it  their  interest  and  btisiness  to  look  after  them  and 
call  them  up.  Let  plenty  of  letters  to  this  effect  be  written  after  the  ses- 
sion has  commenced,  or  they  will  forget  every  word  about  It  by  the  time 
they  reach  the  confines  of  the  District,  with  their  brains  addled  with  sta- 
tistics, etc. 

It  is  very  probable  that  this  particular  matter  prompted  Beau- 
mont to  request  a  call  to  the  capital  as  soon  as  he  had  finished  his 
work  at  Plattsburgh.  The  Twenty-third  Congress  was  now  in 
session,  and.  if  he  wished  any  action  on  his  behalf  at  this  time,  it 
would  be  well  for  him  to  be  on  the  scene  to  start  the  ball  rolling. 
This  he  did  immediately  on  arriving  at  Washington,  and  before  very 
long  had  succeeded  in  interesting  a  number  of  very  prominent  men 
in  both  houses  of  Congress.  A  letter  from  Azariah  C.  Flagg.^  one 
of  tlie  most  astute  politicians  in  the  state  of  New  York,  showed 
Beaumont  to  have  been  a  very  apt  jnipil  in  mattci-s  political  as  well 
as  those  scientific.  ]\lr.  Flagg  had  been  secretary  of  state  under 
Governor  Clinton,  and  Avas  now  comptroller  of  New  York  and  a 


1  Azariah  Culling  Flagg  succeeded  Colonel  Melanchton  Smith  as  editor  of  the 
Plattsburgh  RepuhUcan  in  December.  ISll.  and  continued  as  such  until  1826.  It 
was  evidently  during  this  jieriod  that  he  and  Dr.  Beaumont  became  friends. 

210 


1834-1835 — Requests  Appropriation  by  Congress  211 

member  of  the  "Albany  Regency/'  a  group  of  politicians  who  eon- 
trolled  New  York  by  a  system  of  rewards  for  partisan  service.  The 
Regency  numbered  among  its  members  such  men  as  ^Martin  Van 
Buren,  Benjamin  F.  Butler,  and  Silas  AVright.  Democratic  senator 
from  XcAV  York.  On  December  19,  1833,  Mr.  Flagg  wrote  to  Beau- 
mont from  Albany : 

I  have  written  to  Mr.  Wright,  telling  him  that  if  your  application  can 
be  presented  on  such  grounds  as  not  to  conflict  with  any  of  the  vetoes, 
that  you  are  in  all  respects  deserving  of  his  friendly  aid.  I  suppose  that 
the  connection  of  your  experiments  with  the  medical  service  of  the 
United  States  army  and  navy  would  justify  an  appropriation,  to  remuner- 
ate for  past  as  well  as  prospective  services  in  these  experiments  with  ref- 
erence to  medical  science  solely,  as  connected  with  the  public  service.  It 
is  important  that  you  present  your  memorial  in  such  a  shape  that  it  will 
be  easily  digested  by  Congress. 

Dr.  Franklin  Bache.  of  Philadelphia,  to  whom  he  had  also  applied 
for  support,  with  the  recjuest  that  he  obtain  the  opinions  of  other 
medical  men  in  that  city,  replied : 

I  have  just  received  your  letter  reporting  the  memorial  which  you  in- 
tend to  present  to  Congress.  It  appears  to  me  that  you  deserve  much 
credit  for  your  perseverance  and  public  spirit  in  presenting  your  ex- 
periments, and,  as  their  results  are  really  a  public  benefit  from  their  en- 
lightening us  on  a  subject  which  concerns  every  one,  M'hether  in  health 
or  disease,  I  think  that  private  zeal  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  suffer  in  a 
pecuniary  point  of  view.  Your  labors  were  undertaken  and  prosecuted 
with  disinterested  motives,  so  far  as  your  original  intention  is  concerned; 
and  if,  now,  your  expenses  incurred  in  prosecuting  a  highly  useful  branch 
of  inquiry  are  so  heavy  as  to  have  determined  you  to  apply  to  Congress,  I 
think  you  ought  to  be  indemnified,  both  as  a  proper  reward  to  yourself 
and  as  an  encouragement  to  future  zealous  citizens  who  may  incur  ex- 
penses in  the  successful  investigation  of  useful  branches  of  knowledge. 
In  regard  to  the  opinions  of  other  medical  men  of  this  city,  I  would  re- 
spectfully suggest  that  you  had  better  ascertain  them  by  direct  communi- 
cation with  those  whose  views  you  would  wish  to  possess.  I  think  it 
would  be  highly  important  if  your  experiments  could  be  prosecuted,  and 
that  at  public  expense. 

Having  received  encouragement,  written  and  verbal,  from  prac- 
tically every  one  to  whom  he  applied,  he  memorialized  Congress  in 
the  early  part  of  January  as  follows  :- 


-  This  is  a  copy  from  manuscript  of  the  second  memorial  presented  by  Dr. 
Beaumont,  in  1835,  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Everett,  and  therefore  does  not  in- 
clude the  paragraph  requesting  funds  with  which  to  continue  the  work.  I  was 
unable  to  find  a  copy  of  the  first  memorial. 


212  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  M'illimn  Beaumont 

To  the  Honorable,  The  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 

States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled. 

The  memorial  of  William  Beaumont,  Surgeon  in  the  Army  of  the 
United  States,  respectfully  represents  that  a  most  favorable  opportunity 
having  been  afforded  for  improving  the  science  of  medicine  and  physiol- 
ogy, and  of  ascertaining  and  testing  the  powers  and  functions  of  the 
human  Stomach,  which  has  never  before  occurred  under  such  favorable 
circumstances;  That  Your  memorialist  has  been  at  great  pains  and  ex- 
pense in  relation  to  the  individual  whose  care  affords  the  facilities 
alluded  to,  a  brief  account  of  which,  and  Your  Petitioner's  exertions  to 
persevere,  sustain  and  bring  him  and  his  case  before  the  public  for  the 
general  improvement  of  the  science  of  health,  Your  petitioner  will  relate: 

Alexis  St.  Martin,  the  person  referred  to,  was  an  indigent  inhabitant  of 
the  county  of  Michillimackinac,  Michg.  Ter. — not  a  soldier,  but  dependeni; 
entirely  on  his  daily  labor  for  his  subsistence  and  support,  and  without 
friend  or  relative  to  take  care  of  or  provide  for  him  in  the  misfortune 
which  befel  him. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1822,  he  being  on  the  Island  of  Michillimacki- 
nac, in  Lake  Huron,  was  most  dangerously  wounded  by  the  accidental 
discharge  of  a  heavily  loaded  musket.  The  wound  was  received  just 
under  the  left  breast,  and  supposed  at  the  time  to  have  been  mortal.  A 
large  portion  of  the  side  was  blown  off,  the  ribs  fractured,  and  opening's 
made  into  the  cavities  of  the  chest  and  abdomen,  through  which  pro- 
truded portions  of  the  Lungs  and  Stomach,  much  lacerated  and  burnt, 
exhibiting  altogether  an  appalling  and  hopeless  case.  The  Diaphragm 
was  lacerated,  and  a  perforation  made  directly  into  the  cavity  of  the 
Stomach,  through  which  food  was  escaping  at  the  time  Your  memorialist 
was  called  to  his  relief. 

His  life  was  at  first  despaired  of,  but  he  very  unexpectedly  survived  the 
immediate  effects  of  the  wound,  and  necessarily  continued  a  long  time 
under  the  constant  professional  care  and  treatment  of  your  memorialist, 
and,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  finally  recovered  his  health  and  strength. 

At  the  end  of  about  10  months  the  wound  was  partially  healed,  but  he 
was  still  an  object  altogether  miserable  and  helpless.  In  this  situation 
he  was  declared  a  "common  pauper"  by  the  civil  authorities  of  the  county, 
and  it  was  resolved  by  them  that  they  were  not  able  nor  required  to  pro- 
vide for  or  support,  and  finally  declined  taking  care  of  him,  and,  in 
pursuance  of  what  they  probably  believed  to  be  their  public  duty,  author- 
ized by  the  laws  of  the  Territory,  were  about  to  transport  him  in  this 
condition  to  the  place  of  his  nativity  in  Lower  Canada,  a  distance  of 
more  than  fifteen  hundred  miles. 

Believing  the  life  of  St.  Martin  must  inevitably  be  sacrificed  if  such 
attempt  to  remove  him  should  be  carried  into  execution  at  that  time, 
Your  Memorialist,  after  earnest,  repeated,  but  unavailing  remonstrances 
against  such  a  course  of  proceedings,  resolved,  as  the  only  way  to  rescue 
St.  Martin  from  impending  misery  and  death,  and  to  arrest  the  process  of 
transportation  and  prevent  the  consequent  suffering,  by  taking  him  into 


1834-1835— Memorial  to  Congress  213 

his  own  private  family,  where  all  the  care  and  attentions  were  bestowed 
that  his  condition  required. 

St.  Martin  was  at  this  time,  as  before  intimated,  altogether  helpless 
and  suffering  under  the  debilitating  effects  of  his  wound — naked  and  des- 
titute of  everything.  In  this  situation  Your  Memorialist  received,  kept, 
nursed,  medically  and  surgically  treated,  and  sustained  him  at  much  in- 
convenience and  expense,  for  nearly  two  years;  dressed  his  wounds  daily, 
and  for  considerable  part  of  the  time  twice  a  day;  nursed  him,  fed  him, 
clothed  him,  lodged  him,  and  furnished  him  with  such  necessaries  and 
comforts  as  his  condition  and  suffering  required. 

At  the  end  of  these  two  years  he  had  become  able  to  walk  and  help 
himself  a  little,  though  unable  to  provide  for  his  own  necessities.  In 
this  situation  Your  Memorialist  retained  St.  Martin  in  his  family  for  the 
special  purpose  of  making  physiological  experiments  after  he  should  have 
sufficiently  recovered  to  admit  of  this  being  commenced. 

The  peculiar  condition  of  St.  Martin's  stomach,  your  memorialist  verily 
believed,  afforded  the  fairest  opportunity  and  greatest  facilities  for  im- 
proving an  important  branch  of  medical  science  that  ever  had,  or  ever 
would  probably  be,  presented,  the  wound  in  healing  having  left  an  open 
aperture  of  considerable  size  directly  into  the  Stomach,  through  which 
food,  drink  and  other  substances  could  be  passed  into  and  from  any  part 
of  its  cavity,  and  by  means  of  which  experiments  and  observations  of 
much  importance  to  physiology  have  been  and  may  continue  to  be  made, 
with  useful  and  satisfactory  results. 

His  general  health,  after  four  or  five  years,  being  greatly  improved, 
and  consequently  his  necessity  for  the  professional  care  and  attentions  of 
your  memorialist  being  lessened,  it  has  been  more  difficult  to  retain  St. 
Martin  for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  those  physiological  researches  which 
had  been  commenced.  Consequently  your  memorialist  had  not  only  to  be 
at  the  trouble  and  expense  of  frequently  seeking  him  in  Canada  after  an 
unexpected  absence  of  several  years,  but  was  obliged  to  pay  him  high 
wages  to  induce  him  to  return  and  submit  to  the  necessary  examinations 
and  experiments  upon  his  stomach  and  its  fluids  for  the  purposes  herein 
expressed. 

Your  memorialist  also  respectfully  represents  that  the  expense  in- 
curred by  him  on  account  of  St.  Martin  since  the  tim.e  he  was  wounded— 
June,  1822 — for  professional  attendance,  dressings,  medicine,  nursing,  etc., 
at  reasonable  charges,  upon  the  principles  of  justice,  equity  and  the  com- 
mon usages  of  profession,  would  amount  to  not  less  than  one  thoueand — - 
$1000.00. 

That  the  expenses  incurred  for  subsisting,  providing  for,  and  retain- 
ing St.  Martin,  money  expended  and  wages  paid,  chiefly  to  induce  him  to 
submit  to  the  necessarily  required  examination  and  experiments,  would 
exceed,  in  the  opinion  of  your  memoiialist,  the  average  sum  of  Five  hun- 
dred dollars  per  annum  for  Eight  out  of  nearly  Twelve  years  since  he  re- 
ceived the  wound  in  June,  1822,  which  would  amount  to  Four  thousand 
dollars— $4000.00. 


214  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

Besides  the  ordinary  expenses  above  stated,  your  memorialist,  sta- 
tioned for  thirteen  years  preceding  the  autumn  of  1832  at  the  extreme 
North  and  Western  frontier  military  posts  of  our  country,  the  better  to 
secure  and  perpetuate  the  advantages  of  this  signal  opportunity  for  physio- 
logical experiments,  has  been  under  the  necessity  of  incurring  the  addi- 
tional expenses  of  transporting  St.  Martin  from  place  to  place — from 
Mackinac  to  Montreal  in  1825.  from  thence  with  his  family  to  Fort  Craw- 
ford on  the  upper  Mississippi,  and  back  again  to  Berthier,  L.  C,  in  the 
years  1829  and  '31,  a  total  distance  of  more  than  five  thousand  miles — 
and  subsequently,  with  a  view  to  demonstrate  and  diffuse  such  interest- 
ing facts  and  useful  information  as  may  have  been  developed  in  this 
case,  and  afford  favorable  opportunity  for  more  thorough  and  scientific 
research  and  investigation  of  this  important  subject.  Your  memorialist 
has  also  incurred  the  extra  expense  of  travelling  with  St.  Martin  to  sev- 
eral of  the  principal  cities  in  the  U.  States — to  Boston,  New  York.  New 
Haven,  Washington,  etc. — and  prosecuting  the  "experiments  and  observa- 
tions on  the  Gastric  juice  and  the  physiology  of  Digestion"  for  several 
months  at  the  private  and  individual  responsibility  and  expense  of  your 
memorialist. 

As  your  memorialist  has  not  only  supported  St.  Martin  alone,  but.  in 
order  to  secure  the  benefits  of  his  submission  to  the  experiments,  has 
been  obliged  to  provide  for  and  maintain  his  family,  consisting  of  a  wife 
and  three  small  children,  for  more  than  three  years,  and  has  them  now  on 
his  hands  for  protection  and  support,  without  public  munificence,  and 
with  no  other  indemnification  at  present  than  the  thanks  of  an  indigent 
man  for  the  preservation  of  his  life,  and  the  humble  gratitude  of  his 
helpless  family  for  their  sustenance  and  protection. 

Your  memorialist  also  represents  that  he  has,  with  much  labor  and 
expense,  composed  and  published  a  volume  of  "experiments  and  observa- 
tions on  the  Gastric  juice  and  the  physiology  of  Digestion."  comprising 
nearly  three  hundred  experiments,  with  a  hope  of  permanently  recording 
the  facts  and  extending  the  benefits  of  his  researches  in  this  extra- 
ordinary case.  But  as  this  branch  of  professional  science  will  probably 
be  uninteresting  to  the  general  reader,  the  sale  of  the  book  will  be  so 
limited  as  not  to  promise  an  indemnity  even  for  the  expense  of  the  me- 
chanical part  of  the  work. 

Besides  all  these  extra  expenses,  labors  and  exertions,  your  memorial- 
ist has  continued  constantly  and  faithfully  to  perform  his  public  oflicial 
duties  as  Surgeon  of  the  United  States  Army  without  intermission,  and 
without  receiving  additional  indulgence  or  remuneration  from  the  Gov- 
ernment. These  Experimental  services  were  wholly  extra,  unofficial  and 
voluntarily  performed,  and  not  even  required  of  him  either  by  common 
usage  or  the  Regulation  of  the  Army,  but  were  executed  in  obedience  to 
the  dictates  of  humanity,  a  desire  to  benefit  community,  promote  the 
blessings  of  health,  and  perpetuate  the  signal  advantages  of  this  extra- 
ordinary case  and  opportunity  for  improvement. 

And  your  memorialist  will  further  represent  that  the  pay  now  allowed 


183i-1835 — Manorial  Ffferred  to  Committee  215 

to  Surgeons  of  the  Army,  a  stipend  barely  sufficient  to  cancel  the  ordi- 
narily current  expenses  of  a  military  life,  has  been  greatly  insufficient  for 
the  last  three  or  fotir  years  to  defray  the  increased  expenses  he  has 
necessarily  incurred  in  sustaining,  prosecuting  and  bringing  for^vard  this 
subject  for  public  and  professional  consideration  and  improvement. 

Conscious,  therefore,  of  the  inadequacy  of  his  individual  means  to 
sustain,  "without  injustice  to  himself,  the  expenses  already  incurred,  or 
further  to  prosecute  the  subject  unaided;  humbly  conceiving  himself 
justly  entitled  to  a  fair  remuneration  for  those  extra  services,  and  be- 
lieving them  useful  and  important  to  the  interests  of  the  medical  pro- 
fession, the  science  of  health,  and  particularly  to  the  Army  and  Navy, 
which,  from  the  nature  of  their  respective  services,  are  more  exposed  to 
the  ravages  of  disease  and  the  deleterious  effects  of  irregular  subsistance 
and  improper  diet  and  drinks,  your  memorialist  respectfully  and  earnestly 
solicits  Congress  to  grant  him  an  extra  allowance  of  One  dollar  and 
twenty-five  cents  per  diem,  the  compensation  usually  allowed  to  officers 
of  the  Army  when  performing  extra  dtities.  for  the  time  he  has  actually 
been  engaged  in  professionally  attending  and  restoring  St.  IMartin  to 
health,  and  in  making  the  said  experiments  and  observations. 
The  first  period  to  embrace  the  tinae  between  the  6th  of  June,  1822.  and 
the  last  of  May,  1825.  during  which  he  was  recovering  from  his  wounds 
under  medical  care  and  treatment  of  your  memorialist,  being  ten  hun- 
dred and  fifty-nine  days  at  $1.25— §1323.75.  The  Second  period  to  include 
the  time  between  the  first  of  January.  1830,  and  the  1st  of  January.  1834, 
being  1460  days — $1825.00.  During  the  last  period  the  principal  experi- 
ments were  performed. 

The  merits  of  Yotir  ^Memorialist's  humble  labors,  and  his  motives  for 
pursuing  the  object  of  these  experiments  and  securing  the  benefits  that 
may  result  therefrom,  are  left  to  the  scrutinizing  intelligence  of  the 
present  age  to  discover,  and  to  the  justice  of  those  who  may  come  after 
to  appreciate  and  apply. 

Trtisting  to  the  liberal  policy  and  enlightened  patriotism  of  an  Ameri- 
can Congress  for  a  just  decision  in  the  premises. 

Very  respectfully,  Your  Petitioner,  etc.,  etc.. 

Wii.  Beaumoxt.  . 

Surgeon  U.  S.  Ay. 

The  memorial  ^vas  sent  to  a  committee  of  which  Hon.  Asher 
Eobbins.  senator  from  Ehocle  Island,  was  chairman,  and  he  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  investigate  the  ralne  of  Beanmont's  vrork  and 
the  merits  of  his  claims.  Among  others,  he  requested  Professor 
Sewall.  Professor  Dimglison.  and  Snrgeon-Geueral  Lovell  for  their 
opinions  as  to  the  value  of  the  work,  and  it  is  needless  to  state  that 
they  were  entirely  favorable.     Dr.  Sewall  wrote  : 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  comply  with  your  request  in  laying  before 
you,  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  the  U.  S.  Senate,  my  opinion  of  the 


216  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  Williani  Beaumont 

Experiments  and  observations  of  Dr.  Beaumont  upon  the  Gastric  Juice 
and  the  Physiology  of  Digestion.  No  subject  in  Physiology  has  been 
more  extensively  investigated,  or  received  a  larger  share  of  the  attention 
of  medical  men,  than  the  functions  of  digestion,  and  none  surely  is  more 
worthy  of  consideration.  But,  unfortunately,  no  case  in  the  history  of 
our  science  before  that  of  St.  Martin  has  ever  occurred  affording  equal 
facilities  for  observation  and  experiment.  .  .  .  And  should  the  Doctor 
be  enabled  by  the  Munificence  of  the  Government  to  avail  himself  of  the 
extraordinary  case  of  St.  Martin  to  prosecute  the  investigations  to  its 
utmost  limits,  an  opportunity  which  has  never  before  and  which  may 
probably  never  again  occur,  I  have  no  doubt  he  will  establish  the  great 
principle  of  this  important  function  of  the  animal  economy  upon  a  firm 
foundation. 

Dr.  Beaumont's  sacrifices  of  time  and  money  in  the  prosecution  of 
these  experiments  have  been  great,  and  such  as  he  cannot  expect  to  have 
remunerated  by  the  sale  of  his  book.  He  justly  merits,  as  I  conceive,  the 
grateful  acknowledgements  of  the  medical  Profession,  and  I  should  hope 
he  might  be  sustained  in  his  laudable  efforts  by  the  fostering  hand  of  our 
enlightened  and  liberal  Government. 

Professor  Diinglison''  reviewed  the  work,  aud  added : 

There  are  yet,  however,  many  obscure  points  connected  with  the  physi- 
ology of  digestion,  and  many  circumstances  touching  the  relative  digesti- 
bility of  various  aliments  and  the  action  of  the  Gastric  secretions,  that 
demand  investigation,  and  any  facilities  that  could  be  afforded  to  Dr. 
Beaumont  for  this  purpose  could  not  fail  to  result  in  the  improvement  of 
science  and  the  advancement  of  the  public  good. 

Based  on  the  tenor  of  these  reports,  Mr.  Robbins  presented  the 
memorial  to  the  Senate  on  January  27th,  and  it  was  immediately 
referred  to  the  Joint  Committee  on  the  Library  of  Congress.  This 
committee,  too,  promptly  began  an  investigation  of  the  merits  of 
the  case,  and  sent  requests  to  various  physicians  in  Washington  for 
their  written  opinions  concerning  the  subject  in  hand.  Thomas 
Henderson,  professor  of  theory  and  practice  of  medicine  in  the 
Columbian  College,  sent  the  committee  a  full  SAaiopsis  of  the  work, 
aud  added : 

The  facts  already  established  here,  whilst  they  confirm  the  conclu- 
sions of  some  of  the  gifted  cultivators  of  the  science,  whose  genius  and 
sagacity  led  them  on  by  more  imperfect  aids  to  the  wonderful  approxima- 
tion of  the  truth,  have  forever  put  to  flight  the  visionary  hypotheses  and 
fallacious  theories  which  have  been  taught  for  ages  in  the  schools  of 
medicine   and   have    exerted    a   pernicious    influence   over   their    practice. 


3  Then   professor   of   therapeutics,    hygiene,    and   medical   .iurisprudence    in    the 
University  of  Maryland,  Baltimore. 


1834-1835 — Appeals  in  Beaumont's  Behalf  217 

False  hypotheses  in  medicine,  above  all  the  other  sciences,  must  be  pro- 
ductive of  the  worst  consequences,  as  from  false  theories  false  practical 
deductions  will  necessarily  be  drawn,  which  may  be  destructive  of  human 
life;  and  surely  any  measures  which  will  aid  in  the  establishment  of  a 
single  fact  in  an  inquiry  of  such  importance  cannot  be  considered  as 
unworthy  the  attention  of  the  Philosopher  or  the  Legislator.     .     .     . 

I  feel  it  my  duty,  therefore,  respectfully  to  recommend  that  every 
facility  be  afforded  to  Dr.  Beaumont  for  the  continuation  of  these  inter- 
esting researches  whilst  nature  (we  may  literally  say)  has  drawn  aside 
the  veil  and  exposed  to  view  her  hidden  operations,  and  which  may  soon 
again  be  closed  upon  the  inquiring  eye  of  science  for  ages  to  come. 

A  petition  signed  b}^  Abel  Huntington,  John  Thompson,  and 
Robert  ]\Iitchell,  members  of  the  medical  profession  and  of  the 
House  of  Representati^-es  as  well,  concluded  with  the  appeal : 

It  would  seem  to  be  the  part  of  wise  legislation  to  encourage  the  con- 
tinuance of  these  experiments,  with  prospective  views  of  benefit  to  the 
interests  of  science  and  humanity. 

The  strongest  appeal  was  sent  to  the  committee  by  several  mem- 
bers of  the  faculty  of  the  Columbian  College,  among  whom  were 
Thomas  B.  Jones,  professor  of  chemistry;  I.  C.  Hall,  professor  of 
surgery,  and  Thomas  Henderson.     They  said  : 

.  .  .  It  is  a  fact,  which  must  strike  every  reflecting  mind  with  great 
force  and  effect,  that  no  such  instance  has  ever  before  occurred.  It  is 
true  that  persons  with  wounds  of  the  stomach  have  been  seen,  and  experi- 
ments to  very  limited  and  unsatisfactory  extent  have  been  made.  Two 
or  three  instances,  perhaps,  are  mentioned  in  our  medical  records.  But 
most  assuredly  no  such  case  as  the  one  here  alluded  to  has  ever  been 
seen.  In  this  case  no  limits  are  set  to  the  extent  and  diversity  of  experi- 
mental investigation.  The  size  of  the  orifice  of  the  stomach,  the  quan- 
tity of  gastric  juice  to  be  obtained,  the  control  over  the  man  (who  will 
submit  to  no  other  experimenter),  the  devotion  of  Dr.  Beaumont  and  his 
almost  enthusiastic  purpose  to  elicit  all  that  can  be  drawn  from  it,  the 
success  already  attending  his  inquiries,  all  make  this  case  the  only 
instance  that  we  have  ever  had  from  which  all  may  be  learned  that  is  to 
be  learned.  This  appeal,  now  made  to  the  liberal  and  enlightened  minds 
of  your  honl.  committee,  will  readily  be  excused  when  rightly  appreciated. 
It  comes  from  the  science  of  medicine,  it  comes  peculiarly  from  American 
medical  science,  it  is  directed  to  those  whose  judgment  and  learning  con- 
currently acknowledge  the  force  of  the  appeal.  It  asks  not  to  be  allowed 
to  pass  away,  without  yielding  all  its  influence  to  medical  inquiry,  that 
which  has  never  occurred  before,  and  which,  of  all  things,  is  least  likely 
to  ever  occur  again. 

It  is  probably  already  known  to  your  committee  what  Dr.  Beaumont 
has   accomplished.     The  reviews  tell  favorably  of  his  labors;    the  news- 


218  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  }Vil]i(nii  Beaumont 

papers  teem  with  popular  allusions  to  his  experiments.  The  doctor  has 
done  this  at  great  pecuniary  sacrifice:  he  has  done  it  from  an  unsophis- 
ticated spirit  of  scientific  curiosity.  There  is  but  one  feeling  in  the 
medical  world  toward  him — a  feeling  of  respect  and  gratitude  for  his 
excellent  M^ork.  Dr.  Beaumont  knows  and  says  that  he  has  but  a  glim- 
mering light  which  is  to  be  shed  by  a  further  prosecution  of  the  inquiry. 
He  proposes  to  issue  a  circular  to  the  distinguished  physiologists  of 
America  and  Europe,  asking  them  to  propose  to  him  the  various  truths  it 
is  important  to  develop,  and  the  surest  methods  of  arriving  at  these 
truths.  He  knows  nothing  but  disinterestedness  and  love  of  science.  In 
no  better  hands  could  the  case  have  fallen,  to  no  better  hands  can  you 
safely  commit  the  patronage,  pecuniary  and  official,  which  it  is  thought 
the  Government,  from  its  contingent  resources,  can  amply  bestow.  .  .  . 
To  contribute  to  these  results,  to  be  known  now  and  hereafter  as  the 
patrons  by  whose  liberal  decisions  they  have  been  rendered  accessible,  is 
matter  of  reasonable  pride,  as  it  will  be  of  perpetual  credit,  in  the  annals 
of  our  science.  Nor  is  it  unworthy,  in  our  humble  opinions,  of  the  con- 
sideration of  your  Honorable  Committee  that  to  facilitate  the  consum- 
mation of  Dr.  Beaumont's  purposes  will  redound  to  the  character  of  the 
medical  staff  of  the  U.  S.  Army  in  that  one  of  its  members  shall  have 
made  such  a  contribution  to  science. 

In  spite  of  these  eloquent  appeals,  and  the  fact  that  no  less  a 
personage  than  Hon.  Edward  Everett  was  fathering  the  move- 
ment in  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  had  succeeded  in  ap- 
pending an  amendment  to  the  appropriation  bill  granting  Dr. 
Beaumont  $10,000,  the  cause  was  lost.  To  the  great  discredit  of 
the  Twenty-third  Congress,  there  is  to  be  found  spread  upon  its 
journals  this  record:^ 

The  House  then  proceeded  to  consideration  of  bill  246,  making  appro- 
priations for  support  of  army  of  1834.  The  amendments  were  read  and 
severally  put,  concurred  in  by  the  House,  except  the  2d,  which  read,  "For 
extra  allowance  to  Surgeon  Beaumont,  of  the  U.  S.  A.,  at  the  rate  of  $1.25 
per  day,  commencing  Jan.  1,  1831,  $1,825,  etc.,"  and  on  the  question  it 
was  decided  in  the  negative,  56 — 129.  The  ayes  and  nays  were  called  for 
and  taken. 

The  defeat  of  the  amendment  is  said  to  have  been  due  to  the 
"theoretical  ob.jection  to  the  appi'opriation  by  Congress  of  money 
for  any  scientific  or  ]>hilanthropic  i)iii'p()ses  whatever."  While  it 
was  unusual  in  that  day  for  Congress  to  make  appropriations  for 
such  purposes,  the  real  obstacle  in  this  case  was  doubtless  a  proper 
lack  of  appreciation  of  the  work  by  the  members  of  Congress. 


*  Journal  of  Hou.se  of  Representatives,  March  14,  1834,  first  session  of  Twenty - 
third  Congress. 


1834-1835 — Congress  Refuses  Appropriation  219 

An  amusing  effusion,  tal^en  from  the  Washington  Evening  Star, 
probably  voiced  the  sentiments  of  many  of  the  wise  legislators  who 
opposed  the  measure.  It  is  only  too  true  that  a  little  ridicule  may 
completely  offset  in  the  popular  mind  the  results  of  much  serious 
thought  and  scientific  labor. 

To  the  Chairman  of  the  Military  Comraittee.  Washington. 

Sir:  I  perceive  by  the  papers  that  a  provision  has  been  slipt  into  the 
railitary  appropriation  bill  making  a  certain  compensation  to  Dr.  Beau- 
mont. For  what?  It  appears  that  the  Doctor  undertook  to  cure  a  man 
who  had  received  a  wound  in  his  side.  He  did  not  heal  the  wound.  An 
aperture  thus  remained,  by  which  an  inspection  could  be  had  of  the 
stomach,  and  of  the  operation  of  the  gastric  juice  on  various  articles  of 
food.     He  noticed  this  operation,  and  has  stated  the  result. 

Does  this  display  such  science  and  genius  as  to  entitle  the  Doctor  to  a 
national  remuneration?  and  that,  too,  by  a  special  act  of  Congress? 

He  is  already  paid  for  his  medical  services  as  a  Surgeon  in  the  Army, 
and  the  law  of  a  copy-right  secures  him  any  further  compensation  which 
the  public  may  think  his  published  discoveries  are  entitled  to. 

Besides,  sir,  there  is  a  fallacy  in  the  whole  business.  Digestion  is  a 
chymical  process,  and  no  two  things  are  more  different  than  a  chymical 
process  carried  on  in  the  presence  and,  again,  in  the  absence  of  the  at- 
mospheric air.  The  gastric  juice  performs  its  operations  in  whole  bodies 
without  the  presence  of  atmospheric  air;  in  the  present  instance  atmos- 
pheric air  is  present  in  the  stomach. 

Gastric  juice  being  essentially  the  same  in  human  and  animal  stomach, 
far  more  satisfactory  experiments  have  long  since  been  made  on  the 
solvent  power  of  that  juice  for  the  purpose  of  digestion  by  feeding  dogs 
with  various  food,  and  under  a  variety  of  circumstances  as  regards  sleep, 
exercise,  hunger,  repletion,  etc.,  and  then  cutting  open  the  stomach  at 
different  stages  in  the  process  of  digestion.  The  results  have  been  pub- 
lished to  the  world  long  and  long  ago. 

Medicus. 

Mr.  Everett  was  much  disappointed  at  the  fate  of  his  pet  measure, 
and  promptly  conveyed  his  feelings  in  the  matter  to  Dr.  Beaumont, 
at  the  same  time  suggesting  that  he  should  not  be  discouraged,  but 
that  he  try  a  "new  tack." 

HorsE  OE  Represe>:tatives.  1  April,  1834. 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  your  favor  of  the  24th  March.  I  was  much  morti- 
fied at  the  fate  of  my  amendment  to  the  Appropriation  bill  in  your  favor, 
but  not  much  disappointed.  My  only  hope  was  that  it  would  be  carried 
through  the  House  without  exciting  its  attention.  As  soon  as  the  Con- 
stitutional question  was  started,  I  feared  for  the  result.     .     .     . 

It  is  true  that  some  members  were  of  opinion  that  St.  Martin  was  a 
soldier.     I  thought  so  myself  at  first,  and  so  stated  when  the  amendment 


220  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^ViUianl  Bcauuiont 

was  first  moved.  The  fact  that  he  was  not  a  soldier,  to  which  you  attach 
a  good  deal  of  importance  in  your  letter,  instead  of  strengthening,  weak- 
ens the  claim  in  the  judgments  of  a  great  many  of  the  members — not  in 
mine.  The  great  difficulty  lies  in  the  theoretical  objection  to  the  Appro- 
priation by  Congress  of  money  for  any  scientific  or  philanthropic  purpose 
whatever. 


/'Ajl  W 


/.y     /./^      ^f/-^'^     "^    ^     ^^^"^ 


A  portion  of  the  letter  fiom  Edward  Everett,  in  which  he  deplores  the  fate 
of  the  bill  asking  for  an  appropriation  by  Congress  for  Dr.  Beaumont. 

I  suppose  that  a  few  members  who  voted  against  the  amendment  did 
so  because  they  disliked  to  have  it  brought  forward  in  that  way,  but  I 
am  fearful  the  great  objection  lies  deeper. 

Nevertheless,  I  would  not  wholly  discourage  you.  I  think,  if  you 
should  present  a  New  Memorial,-'  substantially  the  same  as  that  which 
you  presented  in  the  Senate,  setting  forth  what  you  have  expended  and 
asking  some  compensation,  but  not  proposing  an  appropriation  for  the 
Continuance  of  the  Experiments,  there  might  be  a  chance  of  success.  If 
you  wish  it,  I  will  return  you  the  Memorial,  to  receive  these  modifications. 


^This  suggestion  was  adopted,  and  carried  into  effect  at  tbe  succeeding  ses- 
sion of  Congress. 


1834-1835 — Everett  Sugejesfs  Eevhed  Memorkil  221 

Upon  the  whole,  however,  your  reliance  must  be  on  the  c-uriosity  and 
intelligence  of  the  Medical  profession  and  the  public  at  large.  Your  book 
will  eventually  have  a  large  sale — a  larger,  I  think,  if  the  price  were 
lower.  I  wrote  to  my  brother,  the  editor  of  the  X.  A.  Revieic,  desiring 
him  to  procure  a  notice  of  it  for  the  number  just  ptiblished.  I  perceive 
it  does  not  contain  such  a  notice,  and  I  suppose  my  brother  has  not  found 
any  one  to  undertake  it.  If  you  know  among  your  professional  friends 
any  one  who  will  undertake  it,  you  had  better  suggest  it  to  him. 

Hoping  that  you  may  eventually  reap  a  reward,  both  of  profit  and 
honor,  commensurate  to  your  meritorious  and  happy  labors  in  this  matter, 
I  am. 

Dear  Sir,  Most  respectfully  Yours. 

Edwakd  E^"I:EETT. 

Beaiiiiiont  was  not  one  to  be  easily  discouraged.  Even  if  his 
work  had  not  received  all  the  recognition  and  encouragement  at 
home  that  it  deserved,  it  had  made  him  an  international  character. 
His  work  had  been  presented  to  the  Academy  of  Science.''  Seviews 
were  to  be  found  in  a  number  of  the  foreigTi  journals,  among  which 
may  be  mentioned  The  Athenceum.  and.  more  important  still,  a 
German  edition'  had  been  issued,  with  the  title:  "Xeue  Yersuche 
und  Beobachtungen  liber  den  Magensaft  und  die  Physiologie  der 
Yerdauung.  Auf  eine  hochst  merk^^iii'dige  AVeise.  wiihrend  einer 
Eeihe  von  sieben  Jahren.  an  einem  und  demselben  Sub.jeete  ange- 
stellt.  von  Dr.  Y^ilhelm  Beaumont.  AYundarzt  in  der  Armee  der 
vereinigten  Staaten  Xordamerika  "s.  Aus  dem  Englishen  iibersetzt 
von  Dr.  Bernhard  Luden.  prakt.  Arzt  in  Xew  York.  Mit  drei 
lithographirten  Abbildungen.  Leipzig.  1834.  Christian  Ernst 
KoUmann. 


■^  The  AthenfFum  of  English  and  Foreign  Literature,  Science  and  the  Fine  Arts, 
London,  Saturday,  April  19,  1834.  Osier  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  earlier 
reports  of  the  case  had  been  abstracted  in  the  Magazin  der  ausld'adischeii  Litteratur 
des  gesammten  eilkunde,  amburg-.  1826.  and  the  Archives  generales  de  Medicine, 
Paris,  1828.  The  American  medical  publications  were  few  in  number  at  this  period, 
and,  while  practically  all  of  them  reviewed  the  work,  but  two  or  three  seemed  to  have 
recognized  the  full  import  of  this  great  American  scientific  product.  One  of  the 
most  complete  reviews  appeared  in  the  Arnerican  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts.  vol. 
XXVI,  July,  1834.  In  the  May  number  (1834)  of  the  Western  Medical  Gazette,  of 
Cincinnati,  there  appeared  a  rather  long,  unfavorable  review.  I  found  in  manu- 
script a  long-  and  forceful  reply  to  this  review,  which  doubtless  appeared  in  a 
later  number  of  the  Gazette.  It  was  entitled  "Obser^'ations  on  the  Review  of 
Beaumont  on  the  Gastric  Juice,  etc.,"  by  a  reader.  This  reply  was  signed  by 
O.  P.  Q..  and  was  supposedly  written  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Freligh.  an  intimate  friend 
of  Dr.  Beaumont.  Judging  by  the  style  of  the  article  and  the  writer's  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  subject  in  hand,  one  may  justly  conclude  that  this  retort  was 
either  written  by  Beaumont  himself  or  inspired  by  him. 

'While  it  has  been  stated  that  the  work  had  been  translated  into  French,  I 
have  been  unable  to  And  any  record  of  such  a  translation.  The  -work  was  pre- 
sented before  the  French  Academy  through  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Livingston,  and  it 
is  possible  that  this  fact  led  to  the  statement  that  the  work  had  been  translated 
into  French.  Osier  also  states  that  he  was  unable  to  find  a  French  edition  of 
the  work. 


222  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^Yilliam  Beaumont 

His  determination,  therefore,  to  continue  his  efforts  in  tlie  further 
study  of  diizestion  was  in  no  way  dampened.  His  phms  were, 
however,  delayed  by  the  receipt  of  an  order  on  March  4th : 

Secretary  of  War  directs  that  you  proceed  with  convenient  dispatch  to 
Forts  Trumbull,  Walcott,  Preble,  Constitution,  Sullivan  and  Hancock 
Barracks  on  a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  hospitals,  under  the  head  of 
Medical  Director.  Having  finished  this  duty,  your  services  will  be  re- 
quired at  .Jefferson  Barracks. 

He  performed  this  duty  between  April  16th  and  May  9th,  and  on 
IMay  17th  sent  to  the  surgeon-general  a  full,  detailed  report  of  his 
investigation,  which  he  concluded  with  the  statement: 

In  the  whole  course  of  my  examinations  of  the  several  stations.  Hos- 
pitals, Climates,  Clothing,  subsistance,  exercise  and  employment  of  the 
Soldiery,  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  appreciable,  adequate  cause 
for  the  production  of  any  particular  kinds  of  disease  or  infirmity,  except 
that  of  drunkenness,  dissipation  or  imprudence,  and  these  are  much 
fewer  and  less  frequent  than  formerly. 

The  moral  and  physical  condition  of  the  men  appears  to  have  been 
vastly  improved  by  the  abolition  of  the  whiskey  part  of  the  ration  and 
the  substitution  of  gin,  sugar,  coffee,  etc,  in  its  place.  Sobriety,  content- 
ment, cleanliness,  and  good  oi'der  now  generally  prevail  where  almost 
constant  drunkenness,  riots  and  mutinous  conduct  formerly  abounded  in 
the  army.  Officers  now  derive  satisfaction  and  pleasure  from  their  com- 
mands, and  the  soldiers  willingly  obey  and  eagerly  perform  their  various 
duties  with  alacrity  and  delight. 

The  general  health  and  moral  conditions  of  the  troops  at  the  several 
posts  within  my  observation  are  remarkably  obvious,  and  the  professional 
abilities,  faithfulness  and  attention  of  the  officers  of  the  line,  as  well  as 
the  Medical  Staff,  are  sufficiently  evinced  by  the  excellent  policy,  order, 
regularity  and  comfort  in  which  they  keep  their  respective  Garrisons 
and  Hospitals. 

In  this  connection,  though  probably  not  belonging  to  this  period, 
I  wish  to  record  some  of  his  "suggestions  for  a  plan  and  regula- 
tions of  commercial  hospitals,"  found  in  rough  draft  among  his 
papers,  and  not  dated.  The  ideas  which  he  embodied  here  were 
easily  a  half  century  ahead  of  their  time,  and  compare  very  favor- 
ably with  modern  ideas  of  industrial  institutions: 

That  the  plan  be  based  upon  the  liberal,  broad  principles  of  general, 
just  and  equal  beneficence  and  public  charities  set  forth  in  the  memorial 
and  Report  of  the  Committee. 

That  Ample  appropriation  be  asked  for  and  Secured  to  erect  and  en- 
dow suitable  buildings  at  the  points  indicated  in  the  report,  and  perhaps 


1834-1835 — Suggestions  for  Commercial  Hospitals         223 

other  appropriate  places  higher  up  the  Mississippi  and  lalves,  especially 
G.  B.  and  P.  D.  C,  the  natural  intersecting  points  of  water  communica- 
tion between  the  great  Lakes,  those  inland  seas  of  our  country,  and  the 
long  navigable  Rivers  of  the  west. 

That  the  institution  be  placed  under  the  general  supervisionary  care 
and  management  of  a  commission  appointed  by  the  Pres.  of  the  U.  S., 
whose  duty  it  should  be  to  receive  annual  or  semi-annual  reports  and 
returns  from  the  subordinate  branches,  to  devise  ways  and  means,  and 
make  provision  for  the  perpetuity  and  improvement  of  the  institution. 

That  each  respective  Hospl.  and  subordinate  branch  have  a  board  of 
commissioners  or  Trustees,  appointed  by  the  General  commissioner,  to 
superintend  and  direct  and  regulate  the  local  branches;  to  appoint  from 
time  to  time  resident  physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  medical  and  surgical 
Boards  of  consultation,  purveyors  or  Stewards,  and  general  superintend- 
ents and  other  necessary  attendants  for  the  admission  of  applicants,  and 
for  the  regulation  of  imposters  or  unworthy  invalids,  etc.,  who  may  have 
gained  admission  by  misrepresentation  or  from  unavoidable  suffering  and 
immediate  distress. 

That  the  institution  be  founded  upon  a  general  manual  labor  and  self- 
sustaining  system. 

That  some  place  appropriate  and,  so  far  as  practicably  consistent  with 
restoration  of  health  and  principles  of  humanity,  useful  exercise  and 
labor  be  adopted  and  judiciously  be  carried  into  execution  for  the  em- 
ployment of  such  invalids  and  convalescents  as  may  be  capable  of  per- 
forming or  even  of  learning. 

That  no  indolent,  unworthy,  vicious  vagrant  or  imposter  be  permitted 
to  remain  in  the  institution  after  the  development  of  such  traits  of  char- 
acter. 

That  only  just  criterion  and  requisite  qualifications  for  admission  be 
the  worthy  indigent,  inefficient  sufferers  from  age,  infirmities,  or  un- 
avoidable misfortunes  and  accidental  injuries. 

That  these  tests  and  qualifications  of  applicants  be  ascertained  and 
judged  of,  as  far  as  practicable,  by  a  committee  of  investigators  appointed 
for  that  particular  purpose,  and  that  no  worthy  member  be  permitted 
to  remain  and  partake  of  the  munificence  and  charters  of  the  institution 
after  he  shall  have  become  physically  able  to  leave  it. 

That  the  immediate  and  severe  suffering  from  evident  and  unavoidable 
misfortune  only  can  entitle  an  applicant  of  doubtful  merits  or  of  sus- 
picious character  to  admittance  at  all,  and  then  only  till  he  shall  have 
obtained  relief  from  his  immediate  sufferings  and  inability.  That  the 
worthy  old  soldiers,  inland  sailors,  invalids  of  the  army,  and  craftsmen  of 
the  Western  Lakes  and  Rivers,  and  transient  sojourners  be  the  special 
objects  of  the  institution. 

That  ample,  convenient  and  properly  constructed  Hospl.  buildings  be 
erected  upon  the  most  eligible  salubrious  and  pleasant  sites,  and  having 
attached  to  them  sufficient  quantity  of  good  arable  land  for  agricultural 
and   horticultural   purposes,   with   an  appropriate   supply  of  farming  and 


224  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WilUdin  Beaumont 

gardening  utensils,  tools  for  the  different  kinds  of  mechanic  arts  and  the 
various  implements  of  domestic  manufactory. 

That  with  a  view  not  only  to  facilitate  convalescence,  and  promote 
health  and  usefulness,  but  the  better  to  obviate  the  debilitating  and 
pernicious  effects  of  indolence  and  idleness,  to  detect  roguery  and  pre- 
vent vicious  habits,  than  which  nothing  is  more  apt  to  occur  in  such 
fcommunity],  every  invalid  and  convalescent  should  be  required  to  per- 
form such  labor  as  his  particular  genius,  former  occtipation  and  the  state 
of  his  health  may  admit  of. 

The  culture  of  the  :Mulberry  tree,  the  nurture  of  the  worms,  and  the 
making  and  manufacturing  of  the  silk  would  not  perhaps  be  unworthy  a 
trial  in  such  an  institution  where  the  climate  would  admit  of  it. 

The  foregoing  suggestions,  hereby  thrown  together  upon  a  very  cur- 
sory and  partial  view  of  the  important  subject  to  which  they  relate,  are 
respectfully  submitted  for  consideration. 

A  few  days  after  his  return  from  the  totir  of  inspection,  Beau- 
mont made  a  short  trip  with  Alexis,  exhibiting  him  to  medical 
societies  in  dift'erent  cities.  On  ^May  loth  ^Nlilo  L.  North  and 
Edward  P.  Terry,  of  New  Haven,  sent,  on  behalf  of  the  Con- 
necticut Medical  Convention,  a  resolution  ''that  the  thanks  of  the 
Convention  be  tendered  to  Dr.  Beaumont  for  his  interesting  exhi- 
bition of  the  subject  of  his  celebrated  physiological  experiments." 
Soon  after  this  he  exhibited  him  in  Boston,  and  subsequently 
received  a  most  enthusiastic  letter  from  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson.^ 

No.  11  Hanovek  St.. 
Boston.  May  23,  1834. 
To  Dr.  Beaumont. 

Dear  Sir:  Since  you  left  Boston  I  have  been  almost  continually  em- 
ployed in  researches  on  the  chemical  composition  and  the  Physiological 
properties  of  the  Gastric  fluid  w^hich  you  had  the  goodness  to  furnish  me 
with  during  your  short  stay  with  us. 

I  have  become  deeply  interested  in  these  researches,  and  regret  ex- 
ceedingly that  you  could  not  remain  in  Boston  long  enough  to  witness 
them.  I  am  sorry  to  state  also  that  my  stock  of  fluid  is  nearly  ex- 
hausted, and  my  researches  are  yet  by  no  means  finished.  I  have  ascer- 
tained the  precise  quantity  of  Muriatic  acid  and  of  mucus  in  the  fluid,  and 
have  also  found  an  animal  matter  somewhat  like  gelatine,  but  it  does  not 
possess  all  its  properties — perhaps  it  is  Osmazome,  but  I  am  not  yet  ready 


^Charles  T.  Jackson  was  a  scientist  of  considerable  renown,  who  made  valu- 
able studies  in  chemistry,  physics,  and  geologT,-.  He  claimed  to  be  the  finst.  in 
1832,  to  indicate  the  applicability  of  electricity  to  telegraphy,  and  from  1836  to 
1839  he  was  state  g'eologist  for  Massachusetts.  Maine,  and  Rhode  Island.  His 
name  is  most  often  recalled  today  in  connection  with  the  acrimonious  discussion 
concerning  the  discovery  of  ether  as  an  anesthetic  in  1842.  He  entered  claims 
together  with  Horace  Wells.  Crawford  W.  Long,  and  W.  T.  G.  Morton.  Jackson 
utlimately  relinquished  his  claims  to  the  discovery  in  favor  of  Dr.  Long,  and  in 
1873  became  insane,  dying  in  an  asylum. 


1834-1S33— Letter  from  Charles  T.  Jackson  225 

to  give  a  decisive  opinion.  I  have  obtained  tlie  acetic  acid  in  a  separate 
state,  but  have  as  yet  not  determined  its  precise  quantity.  I  am  now  ex- 
amining for  Lactic  acid,  which  I  suspect  exists  in  the  fluid,  but  have  not 
yet  proved  its  presence  to  my  own  satisfaction.  I  am  also  searching  for 
Hydrofluoric  acid,  which  Berzelius  says  may  possibly  exist  in  the  Gastric 
fluid,  but  the  presence  of  which  no  one  has  yet  ascertained.  I  have  en- 
tirely satisfied  myself  respecting  the  power  of  the  gastric  fluid  to  digest 
food  out  of  the  Stomach,  and  have  repeated  all  your  experiments  upon 
the  chyme  with  bile  which  I  took  pains  to  obtain  from  the  gall  bladder 
of  a  child  lately  dead  of  Pneumonia  acuta.  The  results  were  very  like 
those  related  by  yourself.    I  shall  give  you  the  details  hereafter. 

I  am  now  going  to  neutralize  exactly  a  portion  of  the  fluid  with  car- 
bonate of  soda,  and  ascertain  if,  when  neutralized,  it  still  has  digestive 
properties.  I  write  you  now  especially  to  beg  you  to  send  me  another 
portion  of  fluid — as  much  as  you  can  obtain  in  three  or  four  days — or, 
if  possible,  to  come  yourself  to  Boston  and  assist  at  the  experiments.  I 
think  we  could  do  something  handsome  in  the  way  of  Pliysiological  re- 
searches if  we  had  St.  Martin  here.  I  have  spoken  to  several  physicians 
upon  the  subject  of  your  coming  here,  and  they  say  that  there  would  be 
no  difficulty  in  getting  up  a  subscription  to  support  Alexis  while  experi- 
ments were  making  under  j'our  direction.  Perhaps  lectures  might  be 
given  on  the  case,  which  would  remunerate  you  for  the  trouble.  For  my 
own  part,  1  am  willing  and  should  deem  myself  happy  to  perform  any  part 
of  the  labor  you  might  assign  to  me.  If  you  can,  do  endeavor  to  come 
and  spend  a  few  months  with  us.  If  you  are  not  able  to  leave  yourself, 
please  send  me  all  the  Gastric  juice  you  can  obtain.  It  can  be  closely 
corked  up  in  a  stout  green  glass  bottle,  and  sent  with  safety  by  some  per- 
son coming  to  Boston  or  by  the  New  York  packets  to  Boston.  When  you 
send  anything,  please  write  at  the  same  time  by  mail,  giving  me  an  acct. 
of  the  time  at  which  the  fluid  was  taken  and  how  it  was  sent.  Perhaps 
it  will  be  less  otijectionable  to  pack  up  the  fluid  obtained  at  each  trial 
in  separate  packages,  each  numbered  and  referred  to  in  the  letter  rela- 
tive to  the  time  and  under  what  circumstances  it  was  taken.  In  this 
manner  we  may  preserve  separate  the  different  specimens,  and  ascertain 
if  any  difference  of  Composition  exists  in  the  specimens.  The  phials 
might  all  be  packed  in  a  small  box,  and  sent  by  packet  or  by  private  con- 
veyance. Please  write  me  soon  as  possible,  and  let  me  know  what  you 
intend  to  do.     In  haste,  my  Dear  Sir, 

I  subscribe  myself  your  friend   and  obt.  servt. 

Charles  T.  Jacksox. 

In  the  meantime  St.  ^Martin  had  been  permitted  to  return  to 
Canada  again  to  visit  his  family,  with  the  promise,  however,  that 
he  would  meet  Dr.  Beaumont  in  Plattsburgh  by  June  15th.  and  go 
with  him  and  his  family  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  twelve  miles  south 
of  St.  Louis,  the  new  post  to  which  he  had  recently  been  ordered. 


22G  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  M'iUienn  Beaumont 

It  was  Beaumont  "s  evident  intention  at  this  time  to  take  his  family 
with  him  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  as  is  indicated  by  the  following 
extract  from  a  note  written  to  his  daughter  Sarah  from  Washington 
on  3Iay  29th : 

.  .  .  Be  a  good  child;  learn  your  lessons;  improve  your  mind  in 
everything  useful,  virtuous  and  becoming.  Finally,  become  an  amiable 
Lady  in  your  early  youth.  Remember,  your  Father's  hopes  and  your 
mother's  anticipations  of  future  joy  and  satisfaction  are  upon  the  right 
cultivation  of  your  mind  and  morals.  Tell  your  cousin  Elizabeth^  she 
may  prepare  to  go  with  you  to  Jeffn.  Barracks,  and  then  continue  to  be 
your  preceptress  and  my  female  protege  till  she  can  find  a  more  agree- 
able protector.  Improve  every  moment  jou  have  before  you  go  in  learning 
all  you  can  at  Plattsburgh.  Prepare  your  little  Library,  maps,  charts 
and  all  the  little  traveling  paraphernalia  you  can  collect,  to  amuse  and 
instruct  yourself  and  the  children  on  our  journey  through  the  Lakes 
and  Canals.  Mr.  Halsey  will  hand  you  this,  and  tell  your  Mother  how 
I  am,  etc. 

Kiss  your  Dear  mother  and  the  children  affectionately  for  me,  not  for- 
getting Elizabeth  and  the  rest  of  the  family,  and  be  assured  of  doting 
love  and  tenderest  affections  of  a  father,  anxious  for  your  health  and  hap- 
piness, and  eager  to  be  with  you. 

He  seemed  determined  before  leaving  AVashington  to  force  the 
Government  to  take  further  recognition  of  his  production,  and  at 
tlie  same  time  to  dispose  of  a  large  number  of  volumes  that  were 
left  on  his  hands.  AVith  this  in  view,  he  sent  two  communications, 
one  to  the  secretary  of  war  and  another  to  the  secretary  of  the 
navy,  dated  June  2,  183-4 : 

To  the  Hon.  Secretary  of  Xary. 

Doctor  Beaumont,  U.  S.  A.,  liaving  been  at  much  labor  and  expense  in 
performing  and  publishing  a  series  of  "experiments  and  observations 
on  the  Gastric  juice  and  the  physiology  of  Digestion,"  which  he  verily 
believes  will  be  of  much  usefulness  to  the  public  service  by  conducing  to 
promote  the  general  health  of  community — the  army  in  particular,  if  the 
work  be  supplied  to  it.  And  being  conscious  of  the  inadequacy  of  his  in- 
dividual means  to  sustain,  without  manifest  injustice  to  himself  and  fam- 
ily, the  expenses  already  incurred,  or  of  further  prosecuting  the  subject 
unaided  by  public  patronage  in  some  way,  he  very  respectfully  suggests 
the  justice  and  propriety  of,  and  earnestly  requests,  a  purchase  of  100 
copies  by  the  Navy  Department  for  the  use  of  that  branch  of  the  service. 

It  is  conceived  that  they  will  be  of  much  useful  importance,  not  only 
to  the  sick  and  invalids  at  the  Hospitals  of  our  different  military  posts. 


^  Elizabeth  Smith,  their  niece,  accompanied  them  to  St.  Louis,  and  lived  with 
them  until  she  married  Morgan  L.  Martin,  of  Green  Bay. 


1834-1835 — Leaves  for  Jefferson  Barracks  227 

but  also  to  the  crews,  messes,  and  individual  families  in  their  tendency  to 
regulate  wholesome  rules  of  dieting  upon  the  true  principles  of  temper- 
ance, in  both  eating  and  drinking,  so  essential  to  the  preservation  of 
good  health,  constitutional  firmness  and  moral  rectitude.  A  notice  of  the 
decision,  whether  adverse  or  in  favor  of  this  proposal,  communicated 
soon  as  practically  convenient,  will  be  very  desirable,  as  Dr.  Beaumont  is 
under  orders  for  Jeffn.  Barracks,  Mo.,  and  expects  to  leave  the  City  very 
soon,  and  would  wish  to  make  arrangements  to  furnish  the  books,  should 
a  purchase  be  decided  upon.  A  note  dropped  into  the  postoffice  within  a 
day  or  two  will  be  received  before  he  leaves  the  city. 

On  the  following  day  this  reply  was  received  from  Secretary  Levi 
Woodbury : 

Your  communication  of  yesterday  is  received,  offering  to  this  Depart- 
ment 100  copies  of  your  work  upon  the  gastric  juice,  etc.  This  Depart- 
ment has  already  taken  12  copies  of  your  work  to  supply  the  different 
Hospitals  and  Yards.  It  has  not  been  deemed  expedient  heretofore  to  buy 
Medical  books  for  the  different  vessels  in  commission.  But  the  subject 
will  be  taken  into  consideration,  and,  should  it  be  deemed  proper  to 
change  the  practice  on  this  point,  I  will  be  happy  to  inform  you. 

He  now  returned  to  Plattsburgh  to  meet  Alexis  and  to  take  leave 
of  his  family,  for  in  the  meantime  it  had  evidently  been  determined 
that  his  stay  at  Jefferson  Barracks  would  be  a  short  one.  On  his 
arrival  at  Plattsburgh  he  wrote  Major  Kirby,  paymaster  of  the 
army,  that  he  expected  to  leave  on  or  before  July  1st  for  his  station- 
''in  the  'Valley  of  the  Mississippi,'  that  happy  abode  of  savages, 
aligators  and  Indian  traders. "  "I  hope, ' '  said  he,  ' ' if  the  Deposits 
be  not  returned  to  Pres.  Biddle's  Bank,^''  that  some  of  them  may 
be  to  my  empty  pockets.  .  .  .  Should  you  have  received  any 
Book-money,  and  know  not  what  better  use  to  put  it  to,  you  might 
remit  it  if  convenient.     My  wife  wants  it  for  '  pin  money. '  ' ' 

He  was  much  disappointed  to  find  tha,t  not  only  had  Alexis  not 
arrived  in  Plattsburgh,  but  that  he  had  sent  no  message  of  any 
kind  as  to  his  whereabouts  or  his  intentions.  He  remained  here  a 
reasonable  length  of  time,  endeavoring  to  get  into  communication 
with  Alexis,  but  without  success.  After  considerable  delay  he  was 
compelled  to  leave  without  him.  His  feelings  are  best  expressed 
in  his  own  words  in  an  unofficial  communication  to  the  surgeon- 
general  after  reaching  Jefferson  Barracks  : 

A  vexatious  disappointment  and  an  unexpected  detention  at  Platts- 
burgh, awaiting  Mons.  Sergt.  St.  Martin's  return  to  me  at  that  place,  pre- 


1°  The  United  States  Bank;  Nicholas  Biddle,  president. 


228  Ijifc  find  Letters  of  Dr.  Wiltiain  Beaumont 

vented  my  arrival  here  several  weeks  sooner,  and  now  I  have  the  morti- 
fication to  report  him  absent  without  leave.  ...  I  arrived  at  Platts- 
burgh  on  the  15th  or  16th  of  June,  sanguinely  expecting  to  meet  Alexis 
there  in  readiness  to  go  with  me  and  remain  with  me,  but,  instead  of  his 
having  returned  as  he  promised,  I  could  hear  nothing  from  him,  and  was 
left  in  the  predicament  of  1825.  I  wrote  to  him  and  urged  his  immediate 
return,  waited  10  or  15  days  longer  than  I  otherwise  should  have  done, 
and,  learning  nothing  from  him,  was  obliged  to  come  on  without  him. 
This  placed  me  in  a  most  unpleasant  and  vexatious  predicament.  I  could 
not  feel  warranted  in  taking  time  to  go  after  him.  Not  to  regain  control 
of  or  to  leave  him  behind  seemed  like  abandoning  an  important  object, 
and  sacrificing  almost  all  that  had  been  done.  I  was  compelled,  however, 
from  a  sense  of  public  duty,  to  proceed  without  him,  trusting  to  subse- 
quent events  and  circumstances  to  retrieve  the  accident.  A  lettern  ford, 
per  mail  overtook  me  on  my  route  containing  an  extract  in  Monsr.  St.  Ms 
own  language,  and  very  expressive  indeed  of  his  assumed  disposition, 
to  wit: 

"This  's  just  a  snatch  of  Monsieur's  ways, 

Thus  go's  he  on  in  tricks  and  lies. 

And  thinks  to  get  well  paid  for  it." 

Here  we  have  his  true  character.  His  object  was  to  induce  me  to 
come  into  Canada  after  him,  and,  knowing  my  inability  there  to  inforce 
the  conditions  of  his  [agreement]  to  any  useful  purpose,  intended  and 
expected  to  take  advantage  of  my  anxiety  to  extort  a  much  higher  salary. 
I  know  well  his  disposition  and  his  ugliness,  and  hope  rightly  to  [defeat] 
them.  I  have  taken  no  notice  of  his  communication,  nor  shall  I  make 
any  demonstrations  to  get  him  again  till  I  return  in  the  fall  (which  I 
hope  to  be  permitted  to  do  without  fail),  by  which  time  he  will  have  spent 
all  the  money  I  advanced  him  to  provide  for  his  family  for  the  year  en- 
suing, become  miserably  poor  and  wretched,  and  be  willing  to  recant  his 
villainous  obstinacy  and  ugliness,  and  then  I  shall  be  able  to  regain  pos- 
session of  him  again,  I  have  no  doubt.  Should  it  be  decided  by  the 
Parisian  comtte.  to  invite  the  case  there,  opportunity  must  be  afforded 
and  means  used  to  regain  controll  of  him  immediately  before  it  be  too 
late.  I  constantly  fear  he  may  lease  himself  to  some  of  the  medical  men 
in  Canada,  and  get  his  case  into  the  hands  of  the  English  Doctors.     You 


1^  The  followhig  letter  was  received  en  route.  Alexis  could  not  write,  and  in 
his  entire  correspondence  with  Dr.  Beaumont  had  others  write  his  letters  for 
him,  and  he  would  make  hi.s  mark. 

Berthier,   26th   June,   18.34. 

Dear  Sir  :  My  wife  Is  not  willing  for  me  to  go.  for  she  thinks  I  can  do  a 
great  deal  better  to  stav  at  home,  for  on  my  farm  she  thinks  will  be  a  great 
deal  more  nrofit  to  me.  I  had  started  en  the  18th  of  the  month,  and  went  as  far 
as  St.  John's  and  fell  sick.  On  account  of  that  my  wife  is  afraid  to  let  me  go. 
My  wife  joins  me  in  love  to  you  and  your  mistress,  and  all  the  family.  Hoping 
this  may  find  you  all  in  good  health.  I  hope  you  won't  be  angry  with  me,  as  I 
can  do  better  at  home.  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  what  you  have  done,  and. 
if  it  was  in  my  power.  I  should  [do]  all  I  could  foi-  you  with  pleasure.  You  will 
be  good  enough  to  give  my  lo\  e  to  Mr.  Green  and  his  family.     No  moi'e  from 

Yi  urs. 

Alexis  St.   Martin. 


1834-1835 — Alexis  a  Constant  Source  of   Worry  229 

can  readily  appreciate  my  anxiety  and  tlie  deep  interest  I  feel  in  the  case. 
I  hope  to  receive  the  earliest  possible  intelligence  that  may  be  communi- 
cated through  Mr.  Livingston,  accompanied  by  your  views  on  the  subject. 
Should  there  be  no  call  to  Europe.  I  shall  be  extremely  anxious  to  receive 
your  suggested  indulgence  of  going  for  my  family  in  the  fall  and  return 
to  Fort  Cratcford  for  permanent  station.  My  best  wishes  for  the  recovery 
of  your  health  and  kindest  respects  for  Mrs.  L.  and  family. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  official  report  sent  to  the  sur- 
geon-general upon  his  arrival  at  Jefferson  Barracks  read : 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  report  my  arrival  at  this  post  on  the  29th 
inst.     Sickness  on  the  way  prevented  my  arrival  a  few  days  sooner. 

When  Dr.  Charles  T.  Jackson  learned  that  Beaumont  was  to  be 
stationed  in  the  West,  and  that  St.  Martin  would  no  longer  be 
accessible  to  him,  for  further  investigation  and  experimentation,  he 
was  evidently  desirous  of  forestalling  the  inove.  With  this  in  view, 
a  petition  was  circulated  among  the  members  of  Congress,  to  which 
more  than  two  hundred  of  their  signatures  were  appended,  and  was 
presented  by  Edward  Everett  to  Secretary  Lewis  Cass  just  about 
the  time  Beaumont  started  for  his  new  post.  The  petition  was  as 
follows  :^- 

Being  informed  that  Doctor  Charles  T.  Jackson,  an  eminent  chemist  of 
Boston,  is  successfully  prosecuting  an  analysis  of  the  gastric  fluid  of 
Alexis  Saint  Martin,  the  Canadian  boy  attached  to  Doctor  Beaumont, 
surgeon  of  the  United  States  army,  and  that  the  analysis  cannot  be  satis- 
factorily accomplished  without  the  presence  of  Doctor  Beaumont  and 
Saint  Martin;  and  regarding  the  case  as  furnishing  a  rare  and  fortunate 
opportunity  of  demonstrating  important  principles  in  physiology,  by 
which  credit  may  be  conferred  on  the  medical  science  of  our  country  and 
important  benefits  accrue  to  humanity;  also,  understanding  that  several 
national  scientific  bodies  are  anxious  to  draw  Saint  Martin  from  this 
country  for  the  purpose  of  prosecuting  the  investigations  now  making  by 
one  of  our  countrymen,  who  is  in  every  way  competent  to  the  work;  and 
persuaded  that  the  opportunity  now  afforded,  if  neglected,  will  be  lost  to 
our  country  forever,  we  request  that  the  Honorable  Secretary  of  War  will 
station  Doctor  Beaumont  at  Boston,  or  in  the  vicinity,  for  the  term  of  four 
months,  or  longer  if  necessary  for  the  object. 

The  secretary  replied : 

I  should  have  considered  it  due  to  the  very  respectable  signers  of  the 
recommendation  to  comply  with  their  request  in  this  instance,  had  1  not 


^-"William  Beaumont  and  his  Work,"   by  Victor  C.  Vaughan.     (Physician  and 
Surgeon,   December,   1902,  page  547.) 


230  Life  and  L<  iters  of  Dr.  William  Btaumont 

ascertained  that  another  engagement  had  been  made  by  the  Surgeon- 
General,  with  the  consent  of  Doctor  Beaumont,  which  is  more  acceptable 
to  him  than  the  proposed  measure  of  sending  him  to  Boston.  Before  I 
received  your  letter  he  was  on  his  route  to  Saint  Louis,  the  place  of  his 
destination,  and  under  these  circumstances  I  trust  that  you  will  accord 
with  me  in  opinion  that  it  is  not  advisable  to  change  his  station  at  present. 

Stirgeon-General  Lovell  ^^^'ote  on  the  back  of  this  paper : 

Doctor  Beaumont  already  understands  that  he  cannot  conveniently  be 
stationed  at  Boston;  so  he  has  stated  that  this  application  was  made 
without  his  knowledge  or  desire.  He  has  gone  to  his  station  without  any 
desire  to  leave  it  at  present. 

"While  Dr.  Jackson  was.  no  doubt,  actuated  by  proper  motives  in 
the  matter,  he  was  evidently  led  away  by  his  enthusiasm.  At  any 
rate,  it  seems  quite  certain  that  he  had  not  consulted  Beaumont  as 
to  his  wishes  on  the  subject. 

Dr.  Beaumont  did  not  find  Jefferson  Barracks  entirely  to  his 
liking.  He  wa.s  sent  there,  it  seems,  to  relieve  one  Dr.  Foot,  whose 
position  from  some  cause  or  other  had  become  peculiarly  unpleasant. 
"Wliatever  these  conditions  were,  they  seemed  to  render  Beaumont's 
position  .similarly  uncongenial. 

He  remained  at  the  barracks,  however,  throughout  the  summer 
and  fall  of  1834,  contenting  himself  as  well  as  he  could,  separated, 
as  he  was,  from  his  family,  the  pleasant  and  agreeable  stirroundings 
which  he  experienced  in  the  East,  and  from  Alexis,  w'ho  for  the 
past  few  years  had  been  giving  him  so  much  food  for  thought. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  a  letter  was  received  by  Dr.  Silliman 
from  Berzelius,  to  whom  a  cjuantity  of  gastric  juice  had  been  sent, 
and  from  whom  such  si)lendid  results  were  expected.  Of  all  the 
investigators  whom  Dr.  Beaumont  had  called  to  his  assistance,  none 
gave  a  more  disappointing  and  resultless  response  than  did  Ber- 
zelius. ]More  than  a  year  had  elapsed  since  the  package  of  "magic 
fluid"  was  forwarded  to  him  as  the  one  man  in  all  the  world  who 
would  be  capable  of  extracting  from  it  all  of  its  hidden  secrets. 
So  sanguine  had  Dr.  Beaumont  felt  that  something  unusual  would 
be  forthcoming  from  the  Swedish  chemist,  that  he  was  almost 
tempted  to  delay  the  publication  of  his  work  until  word  could  be 
received  from  him.  The  letter  finally  came,  addressed  to  Professor 
Silliman,  dated  July  19.  1834  :>• 


"Afterward   published    in   Silliman's   Journal  of   Science  and  Arts.    vol.  XXyil, 
No.   2,  January,   1835,  pages  405-407,  section  28. 


1834-1835 — Berzelius'  Reply  Disappointing  231 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  had  the  honor  to  receive  some  time  since  the  present 
-which  you  had  the  goodness  to  malve  me  of  three  bottles  [vials]  filled 
with  gastric  juice,  drawn  from  a  man  into  whose  stomach  there  was  an 
aperture  through  the  abdominal  integuments. 

I  am  very  grateful  for  the  confidence  you  have  had  in  me  in  wishing 
to  engage  me  in  making  an  analysis  of  it,  and  I  regret  deeply  that  for  the 
following  reasons  I  am  not  able  to  answer  your  expectations. 

First,  the  gastric  juice,  sent  in  April,  did  not  arrive  at  Stockholm  till 
towards  the  close  of  the  month  of  August.  It  had  not  become  at  all 
putrescent,  but  how  was  it  possible  to  be  assured  that  the  animal  matters 
dissolved  in  it,  after  a  separation  of  almost  five  months  from  the  living 
body,  and  after  an  exposure  to  the  elevated  temperature  of  the  months 
of  July  and  August,  were  still  identical  with  those  of  fresh  gastric  juice. 

But  this  circumstance  apart,  I  could  not  make  this  analysis  with  any 
hope  of  success.  I  assure  you  that  I  commenced,  but  the  difiiculties  im- 
mediately arrested  me.  On  testing  the  gastric  juice  with  litmus  paper,  T 
found  it  strongly  acid.  The  acids  are  for  the  most  part  volatile.  To  ob- 
tain them,  recourse  must  be  had  to  distillation,  but  the  operation  of 
boiling  would  change  the  animal  substance  in  the  residuum.  The  quantity 
of  gastric  juice  being  only  266.76  grammes,  I  felt  that  I  ought  to  sacrifice 
none  of  it,  and  therefore,  in  removing  the  volatile  acids,  I  evaporated  the 
whole  in  a  vacuum  at  the  temperature  of  the  room.  I  had  a  residuum  of 
3.385  grams,  filled  with  crystals  of  chloride  of  sodium. 

Now,  it  was  necessary  to  make  a  plan  of  the  analysis,  but  how  could 
I  make  a  plan,  the  nature  of  the  substance  to  be  separated  being  un- 
known? A  single  mistake  in  the  plan  would  destroy  the  whole,  and  I  had 
no  more  of  the  matter  to  recommence. 

On  recalling  to  myself  how  many  times  I  have  been  obliged  to  recom- 
mence the  analysis  of  blood,  bile,  and  urine,  etc.,  because  I  found  it  nec- 
essary, time  and  again,  to  alter  the  plan,  it  was  evident  that  1  could  not 
now  attain  the  object  with  the  gastric  juice,  of  which  I  possessed  only 
ZVz  grammes  of  dry  residuum.  I  have,  therefore,  put  alcohol,  sp.  gr. 
0.833,  upon  it  and  enclosed  it  in  a  vial  well  stopped,  where  it  waits  what- 
ever may  happen. 

A  great  number  of  experiments,  chemical  and  physiological,  ought  to 
precede  the  analysis.  These  experiments  would  demand  almost  daily  to 
renew  the  supply  of  gastric  juice — e.  g.,  'tis  said  the  gastric  juice  dis- 
solves the  aliments  swallowed,  but  what  is  this  solution?  Does  it  not 
consist  in  this,  that  certain  parts  are  dissolved  entirely,  and  that  others, 
insoluble,  but  in  a  very  divided  state,  are  diluted  in  the  form  of  a  thick 
bouilli?  What  are  the  substances  dissolved,  and  what  the  part  insoluble, 
but  diluted?  The  fibrine  of  the  muscle  is  very  soluble,  even  out  of  the 
stomach  in  very  diluted  acids.  I  inquire  next,  is  it  by  the  free  acids  of  the 
gastric  juice  that  this  solution  is  made  in  the  stomach? 

"Would  gastric  juice,  rendered  perfectly  neutral,  lose  the  power  of 
dissolving  muscular  fibre?  If  not,  it  must  contain  another  substance, 
which  is  the  true  menstruum.     This  substance  ought  to  be  isolated  and 


232  Life  and  Letters  (/f  Dr.  WiUiatn  Beetuiixnit 

studied  apart  before  we  could  have  any  means  of  determining  its  quantity. 
This  we  could  not  do  without  being  able  often  to  renew  the  experiments 
with  fresh  gastric  juice.  It  would  be  necessary  even  to  examine  with  the 
fresh  gastric  juice  the  most  of  the  aliments  which  the  man  used,  each  by 
itself,  and.  by  proceeding  thus,  we  should  obtain  probably  some  sure  and 
numerous  data  that  would  give  a  glimpse  of  what  should  be  sought  in  the 
analysis,  for  that  which  is  vmsought  is  rarely  found.  You  see,  then,  my 
dear  Sir,  how  much  previous  knowledge  I  need  for  entering  upon  this 
analysis  with  hope  of  success. 

I  request  you  to  make  the  proper  explanation  and  apology  to  Dr. 
Beaumont 

Compared  with  the  results  obtained  l\v  the  Ameriean  chemists, 
this  reply  was  most  disappointinu,  and  undeserving  of  the  great 
importance  that  was  laid  upon  it. 

On  September  4th  information  came  that  the  complications  at 
Jeft'erson  Bai'racks  would  be  relieved  by  assigning  Surgeon  Foot  to 
Fort  Winnebago  and  Dr.  Beainnont  to  Fort  Crawford  as  soon  as 
another  sui'geon  could  be  assigned  to  this  post.  Though  the  trans- 
fer was  promised  by  November,  Dr.  Beaumont  was  becoming  very 
impatient,  and  immediately  on  the  receipt  of  this  notification  sent 
a  formal,  official  request  for  a  leave  of  absence  for  the  purpose  of 
going  to  the  North  for  his  family,  in  order  to  return  to  his  perma- 
nent post  of  duty  as  soon  as  practicable.  This  official  retjuest  was 
accompanied,  as  usual,  by  one  of  an  unofficial  character.  He  had 
been  living  in  hopes  that  ]\Ir.  Livingston  would  succeed  in  making 
arrangements  to  have  him  come  to  Paris  with  Alexis,  and  that  by 
the  time  he  had  completed  his  teiiii)orary  service  he  could  lu-oceed 
abroad  with  Alexis.     He  said: 

Having  received  no  information  relative  to  the  suggestion  of  going  to 
Paris  with  IVlons.  Alexis,  and,  from  the  length  of  time  elapsed,  believing 
nothing  more  will  be  done  about  it,  I  enclose  a  formal  and  offl.  appln.  for 
leave  of  absence  to  go  for  my  family  in  the  fall,  and,  if  no  other  arrange- 
ment can  be  made  by  which  the  objects  contemplated  at  the  time  I  last 
saw  and  conversed  with  you  on  the  subject  lean  be  realizedl,  I  wish  to 
be  permitted  to  avail  myself  of  the  indulgence  soon  as  possible.  I  should 
prefer  an  order,  however,  to  some  other  post.  If  no  farther  general  or 
public  measures  are  likely  to  be  taken  to  aid  in  prosecuting  the  expts., 
and  I  am  to  be  left  to  my  own  individual  resources  for  further  investiga- 
tion of  the  subject,  I  wish  to  be  assigned  to  some  post  more  convenient 
than  this,  where  I  intend  to  take  with  me  the  subject,  Mons.  St.  M.,  and 
such  other  means  as  I  can  command,  and  continue  to  prosecute  the  expts. 
and  observations,  etc.,  to  the  best  of  my  limited  ability,  and  communicate 
the  result  to  the  public  in  such  manner  as  may  be  deemed  most  advisable. 


1834-1835— Asl-s  for  a  Permanent  Post  233 

If  I  were  not  fearful  of  obtruding  too  much  upon  your  patience,  or  tliat 
you  would  demur  having  anything  more  to  do  with  it,  I  would  most 
earnestly  and  sincerely  desire  your  further  advice  and  assistance  in  the 
pi'oper  course  of  proceeding.  Vexed  and  perplexed,  as  I  am  sensible  you 
have  been  more  or  less  from  the  commencement,  but  knowing  the  kind- 
ness of  your  disposition  and  liberality  of  your  views,  I  will  presume, 
however,  respectfully  to  request  a  frank  and  free  comm.  from  you  on  the 
subject. 

I  have  not  much  doubt  of  obtaining  control  of  Mons.  Alexis  again  this 
fall  if  I  be  permitted  time  and  the  opportunity.  The  pecuniary  sacrifices 
I  have  already  made  in  bringing  the  case  before  the  public  are  all  well 
known  to  you.  as  well  as  to  the  other  Heads  of  the  Depts.  Can  it  not  be 
made  consistent  to  procure  an  order  that  would  in  some  way  aid  in 
lightening  the  expenses  of  another  trip  from  Missi.  in  the  performance  of 
a  duty  as  much  and  more  for  the  public  than  private  benefit?  Forgive  the 
suggestion  if  it  be  improper;  you  know  my  views,  and  will,  no  doubt, 
rightly  appreciate  my  motives.     .     .     . 

My  preference  of  Posts  is  already  before  you.  Ft.  Crawford  is  still  my 
first  choice.  I  wish  to  be  assigned  to  that  station  unless  Ft.  Columbus, 
N.  Yk.,  is  to  become  a  Station  for  a  Surgeon,  in  which  event  I  would  pre- 
fer that,  as  I  have  before  indicated  in  recording  my  selections  on  the 
book  in  your  office.  I  hope  you  will  candidly  and  kindly  appreciate  the 
peculiar  situation  in  which  I  am  placed  relative  to  my  public  and  private 
duties,  and  duly  consider  the  circumstances  in  which  I  am  involved  in 
relation  to  the  Expts.,  Book,  Alexis,  etc.,  and  favor  my  particular  views 
and  interest  so  far  as  consistently  practicable  without  undue  prejudice  to 
the  public  service. 

In  due  time  the  order  came,  and  the  early  part  of  November 
found  him  Avending  his  way  to  AYashington  and  Plattsburgh  on  a 
three-months'  leave  of  absence.  AYithin  an  hour  after  his  arrival 
at  AYashington  he  wrote  his  wife  in  his  characteristic  style  a  de- 
scription of  the  country  through  which  he  had  just  passed. 

Washi.xgtox.  D.  C,  Sat.  Eve.,  Nov.  15,  1834. 

I  wrote  you  last,  my  dear  Deborah,  from  Louisville,  Ky.  From  there  I 
proceeded  to  Cincinnati,  Portsmouth  and  as  high  up  the  Ohio  as  Guyan- 
dotte,  where  the  water  was  so  low  the  boat  could  go  no  farther,  and  we 
were  obliged  to  leave  and  take  the  stage  over  the  Alleghany  mountains 
through  the  state  of  Virginia.  This,  however,  has  prolonged  my  jouimey 
but  a  day  or  two,  and  has  afforded  me  a  fine  opportunity  of  seeing  an 
interesting  and  very  romantic  part  of  the  United  States  that  I  have  never 
before  seen. 

In  taking  this  route,  I  have  traversed  the  most  celebrated  parts  of  the 
State,  passing  almost  over  the  very  tops  of  the  mountains,  and  by  the 
White  Sulphur  Spring,  the  Hot  Springs,  the  warm  Springs  and  the  Burn- 
ing Spring,  as  famed  in  that  State,  and  indeed  they  are  great  curiosities. 


234  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiam  Beaumont 

I  have  continued  in  company  with  Genl.  Ashely  and  family  all  the  way. 
We  were  two  whole  days  and  part  of  the  nights  in  traversing  the  moun- 
tains. We  passed  over  the  highest  peaks,  2500  feet  above  the  valleys, 
before  daylight  and  3  ok.  on  clear,  serene  morning.  It  was  verily  the 
most  sublime  and  beautiful  scene  I  ever  witnessed.  The  stars  shone 
unusually  bright,  and  we  were  in  the  very  neighborhood  of  them.  I  could 
almost  catch  the  falling  meteors  by  their  tails  as  they  dropt  around  us, 
and  felt  their  scintillations  as  they  passed.  If  I  had  had  a  good  pair  of 
ears,  I  am  sure  I  should  have  heard  Old  Mars  and  Bellona  holding  their 
matin  coverse,  and  Venus  giving  lessons  to  a  class  of  young  cupids  how 
to  point  and  direct  their  arrows.  From  these  heights  we  would  suddenly 
descend  into  the  deep,  dark  dales  below,  where  burns  the  blue  sulphurous 
gass  or  boils  the  Brimstone  Springs,  both  hot  and  cold.  This  is  no  fic- 
tion— it  is  a  fact,  and,  if  anything  on  earth  resembles  Hell,  it  is  these 
Springs.  What  is  called  the  "burning  Spring"  is  sulphurous  gas  or  vapor, 
emitted  from  a  slight  excavation  in  a  sandy  soil  through  the  pores  of  the 
earth,  and,  when  a  piece  of  fire  or  lighted  torch  is  touched  to  the  sur- 
face, it  burns  from  a  thousand  points  precisely  like  sulphur  matches  or 
melted  brimstone,  and  continues  till  extinguished  by  throwing  on  water. 
The  White  Sulphur  Spring  boils  up  from  the  earth  in  a  large  fountain  of 
perfectly  clear  water,  with  a  very  strong  sulphur  smell  and  taste.  The 
Hot  and  warm  Springs  also  boil  up  in  the  same  way,  differing  in  degrees 
of  heat — one  is  about  blood  warm  and  the  other  quite  hot.  They  are  not 
all  in  the  same  neighborhood,  but  some  8  or  10  miles  apart. 

We  also  passed  through  Charlottesville,  where  is  founded  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son's College,  "The  University  of  Virginia."  I  had  the  honor  of  being 
respectfully  noticed  by  the  medical  Professors,  and  passed  in  review  the 
celebrated  dwelling  place  and  sculpture  of  the  Immortal  Jefferson,  Monti- 
cello.  Passed  to  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  and  there  viewed  "Mount 
Vernon,"  that  sacred  spot  where  dwelt  and  died  and  now  rests  the  dust 
of  the  "Father  of  our  happy  country." 

These  are  richly  worth  seeing,  and  my  only  regret  is  that  I  had  j  ou  not 
with  me  to  enhance  the  delights  of  the  very  interesting  scenes  through 
which  I  have  just  passed.  Oh!  how  much  you  would  have  enjoyed  it  with 
our  dear  children  with  us  I 

The  enclosed  are  leaves  from  a  fresh  rose  I  plucked  from  a  bush  as  I 
passed  this  sacred  spot,  growing  fresh  in  the  open  garden.  I  have  also  an 
unexpanded  bud  that  I  am  going  to  try  to  preserve  and  bring  you.  The 
season  is  most  delightful  and  pleasant  in  this  latitude.  Vegetation  is 
yet  fresh  in  the  fields.  A  more  delightful  time  could  not  have  been  en- 
joyed than  we  have  had  since  we  left  St.  Louis.  Scarce  an  hour  of  foul 
weather  have  we  had  in  the  whole  route  till  this  afternoon,  when  it  began 
to  storm,  and  it  is  now  raging  furiously,  but  not  till  after  our  arrival 
here.  We  have  had  excellent  roads,  fine  horses,  elegant  carriages,  and 
good  drivers,  and  have  enjoyed  fine  health  so  far  and  hope  to  till  after 
we  meet.  I  arrived  here  an  hour  ago,  and  have  not  seen  Dr.  Lovell  yet 
to  ascertain  my  prospects.     And  tomorrow  being  Sunday,  I  fear  I  shall  be 


1834-1835 — Trip  Th rough   Virginia  235 

detained  till  Tuesday  before  I  can  get  away.  I  send  this  in  advance  to 
appease  your  anxiety  and  prepare  for  the  reception  of  Your  ever  af- 
fectionate 

WiLLIAil. 

Following  his  cousultation  with  the  snrgeon-general  at  AVashing- 
ton,  he  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  leave  of  absence  with  his 
family  in  Plattsburgh.  Whatever  the  determining  factors  in  their 
discussion  of  the  matter,  it  was  decided  that  Beaumont  should 
return  to  St.  Louis  at  the  expiration  of  his  leave  of  absence,  to  be 
stationed  at  the  arsenal  instead  of  the  barracks,  and  that  this 
should  be  his  permanent  station.  He  left  Plattsburgh  about  Janu- 
ary 10th  or  12th  en  route  for  St.  Louis,  with  the  understanding 
that  he  was  to  return  in  April  for  his  family.  There  is  evidence 
that  he  spent  the  14th  at  Philadelphia.  It  goes  without  saying  that 
while  in  Plattsburgh  further  efforts  were  made  to  get  Alexis  to 
join  him.  He  could  get  no  reply  to  his  letters,  however,  before 
leaving,  and  authorized  his  cousin,  Samuel  Beaumont,  to  continue 
the  correspondence.  Samuel  Beaumont  wrote  Alexis  of  Dr.  Beau- 
mont's great  disappointment,  adding: 

He  left  word  that  if  you  answered  his  letter,  and  concluded  to  abide  by 
his  proposals  of  leaving  your  family  there  for  the  present  and  come  out 
yourself  and  go  with  him,  to  write  back  to  you  and  say  that  you  might 
stay  with  your  family  till  about  the  middle  of  April,  and  then  meet  him 
here,  prepared  to  go  with  him.  And  he  also  said,  if  you  refused  to  come 
without  your  family,  or  asked  for  more  money  than  he  had  already  ad- 
vanced or  consented  to  let  you  have  when  you  came  to  him,  that  you 
might  remain  where  you  were,  without  expectation  of  any  further 
assistance  or  consideration  from  him,  enjoying  the  fruits  of  ingratitude 
and  injustice  as  you  could.  He  will  not  advance  you  any  more  money 
till  you  come  to  him,  and  manifest  a  sincere  disposition  faithfully  to 
serve  out  your  engagement  to  him  and  fulfill  his  expectations  of  you. 
When  you  have  done  that,  he  will  reward  you  justly,  amply  and  equal  to 
your  expectations. 

To  cover  the  distance  between  Plattsburgh  and  St.  Louis  at  that 
time  required  a  period  of  two  weeks.  Dr.  Beaumont  therefore 
returned  to  his  post  of  duty  about  February  1st.  and  on  March  18th 
notified  the  department  at  AYashington  that  he  was  about  to  return 
to  Plattsburgh  via  AYashington  for  his  family.  He  arrived  there 
early  in  April,  and  began  preparations  for  removing  his  family  to 
their  permanent  home  in  St.  Louis.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
since  leaving  Fort  Crawford  in  1832  he  had  not  been  in  any  one 


236  Life  and  Lcitrys  of  Dr.  Willidni  Hiauinoni 

location  long  enongli  to  justify  his  li<Mvini:-  the  family  join  him. 
The  anticipation,  therefore,  of  once  more  havinu'  his  loved  ones 
abont  him.  with  a  home  of  his  own.  must  have  been  a  source  of  the 
greatest  satisfaction  to  him.  ('oukl  he  hut  bring  Alexis  once  more 
into  his  family  gi'ou]).  his  happiness  would  be  completer  This  visit 
to  Plattsburgh.  like  the  preceding  ones,  was  characterized  by  efforts 
in  this  diri^ction — this  time  through  ]\Ir.  AVilliam  ]\Iorrison,^*  with 
whom  he  had  i)reviously  been  in  correspondence.  After  nwking 
apologies  for  trespassing  again  upon  his  time  and  patience,  he 
wrote : 

.  .  .  But  from  the  peculiar  circumstances  and  situation  in  wliich  I  am 
placed  with  regard  to  him  and  his  case  and  condition,  I  am  induced  to  do 
so  from  a  desire,  in  the  first  place,  to  ascertain  facts,  that  I  may  be  able 
to  do  justice  to  him  as  well  as  to  myself;  and  2dly,  to  avoid  unnecessary 
disappointment  either  to  the  public  or  to  individuals.  From  the  sugges- 
tion in  your  reply  to  my  letter  on  the  subject  last  fall,  and  also  from  a 
commn.  from  Alexis  himself,  I  was  then  induced  to  believe  he  would, 
like  an  honest  man,  have  returned  to  me  to  fulfill  his  engagement  this 
Spring.  I  have  heard  nothing  from  him  since.  1  have  now  just  returned 
from  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  where  I  have  been  since  Deer,  last,  and  expect  to  re- 
turn there  again  in  a  few  weeks,  permanently  to  remain.  But  before  I 
finally  abandon  the  idea  of  realizing  and  regaining  him  again  into  my 
Service,  1  am  desirous  of  ascertaining  Alexis'  situation  and  true  disposi- 
tion, and  can  only  expect  to  succeed  indirectly  through  your  kindness  and 
candor.  Long,  vexatious  experience  has  too  much  impaired  my  confidence 
in  him  to  rely  upon  his  assertions  and  promise.  I  am  sorry  it  is  so,  but 
so  it  is,  and  it  is  now  almost  a  year  since,  by  mutual  understanding  and 
agreement,  I  advanced  him  money,  considerably  more  than  was  then  due 
him,  to  enable  him  to  take  his  family  into  Canada,  and  leave  them  com- 
fortably situated  for  18  or  25  mos.,  to  return  himself  in  5  or  6,  to  meet  me 
at  Plattsburgh  to  go  West  and  serve  out  his  engagement  to  me.  since 
which  I  have  not  seen  or  reed,  anything  from  him  but  mere  pretexts  for 
his  failure  to  return  according  to  agreement.  I  made  my  final  proposi- 
tion to  him  last  winter,  just  before  I  started  for  ^Missouri,  by  which  I  am 
still  willing  to  abide  if  he  chooses  to  comply  without  any  more  cavil  or 
delay.  I  expect  to  leave  here  with  my  family  for  the  West  on  or  before 
the  10th  of  May. 

Will  you  do  me  a  last  favor,  if  you  can  endure  the  disagreeable  conde- 
scension of  seeing  Alexis,  to  ascertain  his  situation,  disposition  and  de- 
terminations, if  practicable,  and  communicate  them,  with  your  own  views 
and  opinions  on  the   subject,  to  me  at  this   place  soon  as  possibly  con- 


" William  Morrison,  an  agent  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  residing  in 
Canada,  had  been  a  well-known  figuie  in  the  history  of  the  company  for  many 
years.  As  early  as  1808  he  was  one  of  the  partners  of  the  "shrewd  Lisa"  in  the 
Missouri  Fur  Company.     He  was  now  living  on  a  small  estate  in  Canada. 


1834-1835— Assigned  to  Duty  at  St.  Louis  237 

venient.     I  would  not  have  troubled  you  again  on  the  disagreeable  subject, 
had  not  expediency  as  well  as  the  necessity  of  the  case  required  it. 

Another  matter  which  called  for  his  attention  prior  to  leaving 
for  the  West  was  some  misunderstanding  existing  between  him  and 
his  publishers.  It  seems  that  there  had  been  some  delay  in  the  pay- 
ment of  the  royalty  or  commission  on  the  last  five  hundred  copies 
of  his  work.  He  therefore,  before  leaving,  gave  Samuel  Beaumont 
power  of  attorney,  authorizing  him  "to  ask,  demand,  sue  for, 
recover  and  receive  from  Lilly,  Wait  and  Co.,  now  or  late  Book- 
sellers of  Boston,  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  or  either  of  them, 
such  sum  or  sums  of  money  as  are  noAv  due  from  them,  the  said 
Lilly,  Wait  and  Co.,  or  the  balance  due  from  them  for  or  on  account 
of  five  hundred  copies  of  a  book  entitled,  '  Experiments  and  Obser- 
vations on  the  Gastric  Juice  and  the  Physiology  of  Digestion.'  " 

No  record  was  found  as  to  whether  an  amicable  settlement,  or  any 
settlement,  was  made  with  his  booksellers. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

1835-1840. 

All  arraugeinents  made  and  his  affairs  satisfactorily  disposed  of, 
he  started  Avith  his  family  through  the  canals  and  lakes  on  prac- 
tically the  same  joiirnej'  that  he  described  so  vividly  in  his  ' '  Trav- 
elling Journal  from  Plattsburgh  to  Mackinac  in  1820."  It  was 
his  intention  to  proceed  overland  from  Green  Bay  to  Prairie  du 
Chien,  and  doAA-n  the  ^Mississippi  to  his  destination.  On  June  26th, 
hoAvever,  he  reported  himself  sick  at  Green  Bay,  and  asked  for  an 
extension  of  his  furlough.  They  Avere  not  detained  long,  for  on 
July  23d  he  reported  to  the  surgeon-general's  office  his  safe  arriA'al 
at  St.  Louis  in  good  health,  and  on  August  1st  that  they  Avere 
comfortably  situated  at  the  arsenal,  three  miles  south  of  St.  Louis. 
Here  he  lived  AAdth  his  family  for  a  short  time,  after  Avhich  he 
moved  into  the  city,  and  requested  of  the  surgeon-general  the 
priA'ilege  of  entering  private  practice  in  St.  Louis  and  community. 
According  to  a  notification  Avhieh  he  had  received  in  April,  his 
duties  AA'ere  to  be  divided  betAveen  St.  Louis,  Avhere  there  Avere  many 
officers  and  their  families,  and  the  arsenal,  AA-here  he  Avas  the  at- 
tending physician  and  the  purveyor  of  medical  supplias  of  the 
Avestern  military  district.  Dr.  DeCamp  Avas  noAV  stationed  at  the 
barracks,  Avhere  there  Avas  at  that  time  a  small  number  of  men 
under  General  Atkinson.  He  felt  therefore  that,  since  much  of 
his  time  must  be  spent  in  the  citA',  he  could  open  an  office  and  give 
medical  attention  to  citizens  as  Avell  as  soldiers.  He  had  been 
granted  the  same  privilege  at  other  posts  Avithout  it  having  in  the 
least  degree  interfered  Avith  his  official  functions,  and  the  request 
Avas  promptly  granted  on  this  occasion.  Coming,  as  he  did,  Avith 
his  Avell-established  reputation  as  army  surgeon,  and  AA-itli  the  pres- 
tige given  him  through  the  publication  of  his  book,  together  Avith  a 
strong  personality  and  splendid  presence,  private  practice  fell  into 
his  hands  very  quickly.  The  officers  and  their  families  played  an 
important  role  in  the  social  affairs  of  St.  Louis  in  these  days,  and 
his  introduction  Avas  therefore  prompt  and  complete. 

In  spite  of  the  busy  life  he  Avas  leading  and  a  rapidlj^  groAving 
income,  he  still  had  time  and  inclination  to  carry  out  the  suggestion 
of  ]Mr.  Everett  folloAving  the  sad  fate  in  Congress  of  his  amendment 

238 


1835-1840— Second  Memorial  Pigeonholed  239 

to  the  appropriation  bill  of  1834 — namely,  that  he  present  a  new 
memorial  to  Congress,  asking  for  compensation  for  the  services  that 
he  had  rendered  Alexis,  bnt  not  proposing  an  appropriation  for  the 
continuance  of  the  experiments.  When,  therefore,  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Congress  convened  in  the  fall,  an  amended  memorial  was 
presented.  The  following  extracts  from  the  Senate  journal^  speak 
for  themselves : 

(December  28,  1835.)  Mr.  Linn  (senator  from  Missouri)  presented  the 
petition  of  William  Beaumont,  M.  D.,  praying  to  "be  remunerated  for  his 
time  and  expenses  in  prosecuting  a  series  of  experiments  on  the  gastric 
fluid  on  the  person  of  Alexis  St.  Martin. 

(December  31,  1835.)  On  motion  of  Mr.  Wright  (Silas  Wright,  Jr., 
senator  from  New  York),  member  of  Committee  on  Finance,  ordered  that 
the  Committee  on  Finance  be  discharged  from  the  further  consideration 
of  the  petition  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont,  and  that  it  be  referred  to  the 
select  comimittee  appointed  on  the  petition  of  Boyd  Reilly. 

Boyd  Eeilly,  the  inventor  of  an  apparatus  for  applying  vapors  to 
the  surface  of  the  body,  was  evidently  endeavoring  to  have  his 
appliance  inti'oduced  into  the  army.  AVliile  Beaumont  was  in  Xew 
York  conducting  his  experiments  he  received  a  request  from  the 
surgeon-general  to  purchase  one  of  the  "patent  vapor  baths'"' 
of  Reilly.  at  which  time  it  was  evidentlj^  being  tested  by  the  de- 
partment. Reference  to  the  Senate  .journal  concerning  the  petition 
of  Boyd  Reilly  reveals  the  following  information : 

(December  28,  1835.)  Resolved,  that  the  petition  of  Boyd  Reilly,  in- 
ventor of  the  apparatus  for  applying  air,  gas  or  vapor  to  the  surface  of 
the  human  body,  which  was  presented  to  the  Senate  at  the  last  session, 
be  referred  to  the  select  committee.  Ordered,  that  Mr.  Naudeln,  Kent, 
Linn,  Grundy,  and  Robinson  be  the  committee. 

(January  27,  1836.)  3,Ir.  Naudeln  made  a  report  from  the  select  com- 
mittee on  Boyd  Reilly  [but  no  mention  of  Beaumont's  petition]. 

Bill  to  purchase  apparatus  sent  to  engrossment  and  third  reading. 
■     (March  31,  1836.)     Passed  the  Senate. 

In  other  words,  Beaumont's  memorial  was  "pigeonholed,"  and 
has  never  been  heard  of  from  that  day  to  this.  The  probabilities 
are  that  by  this  time  Dr.  Beaumont's  opinion  of  Congress  was 
entirely  in  accord  with  that  of  his  cousin,  Andrew  Beaumont, 
himself  a  member  of  Congress  from  Pennsvlvania.-     Andrew  was 


^  Senate   journal,    first    session,    Twentv-fourth    Congress.    1S35,    pages    61, 
123,   250,  253, 

2  From  1S33  to  1837. 


240  Life  and  Lcffrrs  of  Dr.  WiUiam  Biauinoni 

evidently  a  very  clever  fellow,  and  certainly  a  wit  if  one  may  judge 
from  those  of  his  letters  that  it  has  been  my  jileasure  to  peruse. 
He  wrote : 

I  get  so  out  of  all  patience  with  the  damnable  morals  of  men  in  the 
high  stations  (always  excepting  Andrew  Jackson),  of  the  reckless  knavery 
and  gambling  profligacy  of  a  majority  of  the  people's  representatives,  that 
I  have  hard  work  to  stand  it.  Why,  damn  it,  many  things  done  here  in 
the  House  of  the  people,  under  the  pretense  of  legislating  for  the  com- 
mon welfare,  would  disgrace  in  profligacy  a  band  of  your  real  Mississippi 
Blacl  ■.  Oh!  I  forgot  you  lived  upon  the  banks  of  the  Father  of  Rivers. 
I  beg  r  pardon.     But.  to  leave  the  Mississippi   Blacklegs  to  attend  to 

Was  n   Blacklegs,   these  worthies  rob   and   skin  the   people   by   mil- 

lions u.  iiillions.  and  then  tell  them — and  too  many  are  fools  enough 
to  believe  it — "that  it  is  all  for  protection!"     .     .     . 

I  hope  you  are  happily  located  with  the  wife,  when,  after  all  your 
labors  by  land  and  water,  you  can  sit  down  in  peace  and  comfort,  sur- 
rounded by  all  which  makes  life  tolerable.  It  is,  you  know,  a  poor  story 
at  best,  and,  without  those  endearments  of  those  we  love  and  know  to  be 
our  bosom  friends,  is  cheerless  indeed.  I  don't  know  how  we  muster 
courage  and  fortitude  to  endure  life  so  long  as  we  do,  but  "hope,"  whose 
ray  pierces  the  most  sullen  gloom,  shines  always  lovely,  and  lures  us  on 
thro  many  a  melancholy  path.  You  will  say  I  am  hypochondriac,  but 
these  are  the  reflections  of  Sunshine  as  well  as  clouds,  and  I  appeal, 
Dear  Cousin,  to  your  own  heart  if  there  is  not  more  truth  than  poetry  in 
this  half  comic,  half  tragic  reflection. 

"  Washington  blacklegs"  doubtless  gave  Di-.  Beaumont  veiy  little 
concern  after  this,  for  his  position  was  at  last  such  that  he  was  no 
longer  dependent  on  the  meager  pay  of  an  ai'iiiy  ofHcei'.  or  the 
inconsistencies  of  a  lot  of  politicians,  who  could  s(iuander  thousands 
for  political  gain  and  had  not  a  dollar  to  spend  for  the  promotion 
of  science.  Dr.  Beaumont's  pi-ide  was  probably  the  greatest  suf- 
ferer in  the  matter,  foi-  he  evidt'utly  did  not  mind  so  nuich  losing 
the  money  as  losing  tlie  huht.  As  to  his  cousin's  "half  comic  and 
half  tragic  reflections."  the  pi-obabilities  are  that  he  took  no  stock 
in  them. 

Within  a  yeai-  after  he  entered  pi'ivate  practice  he  stated  in  a 
letter  to  the  surgeon-general : 

I  have  no  wish  or  intention  of  resigning  at  present,  though  the  pro- 
fessional encouragements  I  meet  with  here  might  seem  sufficient  induce- 
ment to  do  so,  were  avarice  and  professional  fame  the  object  of  my  am- 
bition. I  have  a  very  handsome,  lucrative  and  respectable  private  prac- 
tice, with  f)  or  8,000  dollars  a  year,  a  reputation  far  above  my  deserts,  and 


1835-1S40 — Offered  Chair  of  Surgery  241 

a  professional  popularity  more  than  commensurate  with  my  best  practical 
skill  or  abilities. 

The  doctor's  professional  standing  among  laymen  is  best  evi- 
denced by  the  fact  that  within  a  year  after  opening  his  office  he 
had  a  very  large  and  lucrative  practice ;  his  standing  in  the  pro- 
fession was  shown  not  only  by  a  large  consultation  practice, 
but  also  by  the  action  taken  about  this  time  offering  him  the 
chair  of  surgery  in  the  first  medical  department  establishec'  est 
of  the  Mississippi.  Within  a  year  of  his  settlement  in  St.  I  s  a 
correspondence,  originating  in  the  action  of  the  Medical  ty 

of  Missouri,  was  carried  on  between  a  committee  of  the  so^  and 
the  president  of  the  St.  Louis  University  relative  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  medical  department  in  St.  Louis  under  the  charter  of  the 
university.  Full  power  had  been  granted  to  the  institution  to 
establish  law  and  medical  departments,  which,  by  the  charter,  were 
to  be  in  operation  within  a  given  period  from  the  date  of  the 
privilege  conferred."  It  Avas  decided  then  to  establish  a  school  of 
medicine  in  St.  Louis,  and  trustees  were  named.*  This  board  im- 
mediately proceeded  to  fill  the  different  chairs  in  the  medical 
faculty,  and  selected  six  physicians :  Drs.  Hardage  Lane,  Joseph 
Johnson,  E.  H.  ]\IcCabe,  Henry  King,  C.  J.  Carpenter,  and  Dr. 
Beaumont,  to  whom  Avas  oft'ered  the  chair  of  surgery.  He  was  duly 
notified  by  AYilliam  G.  Elliott,  Jr.,'"^  secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  of  his  election  on  October  4th,  1836,  but  promptly  replied  : 

Highly  gratified  by  the  purport  of  your  note  of  the  4th  inst.,  advising 
me  of  my  election  to  the  chair  of  surgery  in  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  St.  Louis  University,  I  regret  the  more  that  it  w^ill  not  be  consistent 
with  my  present  circumstances  and  official  connection  with  the  U.  S. 
service  to  accept  the  appointment  without  first  having  consulted  and  ob- 


'^  "Memoir  of  the  Late  Wm.  Beaumont,  M.  D.,"  delivered  before  the  St.  Louis 
Medical  Society  in  1854  by  Thomas  Reyburn,  M.  D.  (St.  Louis  Medical  and 
Surgical  Journal,  vol.  XII,  March,  1854,  and  Minutes  of  the  St.  Louis  Medical 
Society.) 

*  General  V^'m.  H.  Ashley,  Rev.  AA^illiam  G.  Elliott.  Dr.  B.  G.  Farrar,  Thomas 
Green,  Henry  L.  Hoffman,  John  W.  Johnson,  Judge  Mary  P.  Leduc.  Colonel 
John  O'Fallon.  William  Renshaw. 

"Rev.  W^illiam  Greenleaf  Elliott,  D.  D.,  came  to  St.  Louis  when  the  city  was 
a  mere  village,  and  ever  manifested  a  great  interest  in  its  growth,  being  espe- 
cially devoted  to  the  development  of  the  educational  institutions  of  the  city. 
He  remained  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  St.  Louis  University  for 
a  number  of  years.  On  February  22,  1853,  the  Legislature  of  Missouri  granted 
a  charter  to  an  educational  institution,  to  be  located  in  St.  Louis  and  to  bear 
the  name  of  Elliott  Institute  in  his  honor.  In  deference  to  his  wishes,  however, 
the  name  was  changed  to  Washington  Institute,  and  finally  to  Washington  Uni- 
versity. He  was  president  of  the  first  Board  of  Directors,  and  at  various  times 
acting  professor  of  ethical  and  political  science  and  political  economy.  In  1872 
he  was  elected  chancellor,  which  position  he  held  until  his  death  in  1887.  He 
was  connected  for  thirty-five  years  with  Washington  University,  devoting  the 
last  fifteen  years  exclusively  to  the  institution. 


242  Life  and  Ltttcis  of  Br.  WiUiain  Beaumont 

tained   the   consent   of    the    head    of   my   official    department,    Dr.    Lovell, 
Surgeon-General,  residing  at  Washington  City. 

Presuming  that  prompt  action  and  immediate  prosecution  of  the  pre- 
liminary arrangements  of  this  incipient  institution  are  intended  by  the 
Trustees,  and  not  wishing  to  cause  any  impediment  to  the  speedy  con- 
firmation of  their  views,  or  to  mar  their  future  prosperity  by  any  unfa- 
vorable delay  in  the  matter,  I  feel  in  duty,  as  well  as  by  conditions,  bound 
respectfully  to  request  the  kind  acceptance  of  my  declination  of  the 
honor  for  the  reasons  above  assigned.  Permit  me  here  sincerely  to  return 
thanks  to  the  Board  for  the  [compliment]  in  the  preferred  honor,  and 
also  express  my  profound  respect  and  ardent  wish  for  the  success  and 
prosperity  of  the  contemplated  undertaking. 

Through  Dr.  Elliott  the  Board  of  Trustees  expressed  its  regret 
that  circumstances  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  definitely  accept 
the  chair,  and  at  the  same  time  expressed  the  hope  that  the  reasons 
were  such  as  might  be  removed  by  a  few  weeks'  delay.  They  were 
desirous  that  the  medical  department  should  have  in  its  infancy  the 
benefit  of  his  influence  and  talents,  and  expressed,  therefore,  their 
willingness  to  wait  for  a  definite  answer  until  he  could  communicate 
with  the  surgeon-general.  In  view  of  the  persistence  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  the  Doctor  sent  a  communication  to  the  surgeon-general 
on  October  31,  1836,*^  as  follows : 

Having  recently  been  elected  to  the  Chair  of  Surgery  in  the  new  medi- 
cal school  about  to  be  established  in  this  place,  as  you  will  perceive  by 
the  enclosed  copies  of  communications,  I  conceive  it  my  duty  to  consult 
the  Department,  and  obtain  your  views  and  opinion  of  the  propriety  of 
such  a  course  before  giving  a  definite  answer  to  the  proposition. 

Feeling  great  diffidence  in  my  own  qualifications  and  fitness  for  such 
an  appointment,  I  was  more  inclined  to  seek  an  excuse  than  to  cherish 
the  acceptance,  and  urged  my  official  connection  with  the  Army,  the  un- 
certainty of  my  continued  location  here,  and  the  necessity  and  doubts 
of  obtaining  the  sanction  of  the  Department  and  your  approbation  of 
such  an  engagement  as  sufficient  objections,  and  gave  them  as  my  reasons 
for  declining  the  proferred  honor  in  the  first  place.  But  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  not  inclined,  it  seems,  to  let  me  off  so  easily,  proposed  to  wait 
till  I  should  have  time  to  consult  and  obtain  your  views  and  decision  on 
the  subject  before  they  proceed  to  elect  another  person. 

I  now  submit  the  case  for  your  consideration,  and  very  respectfully 
and  earnestly  solicit  your  advice  on  the  subject,  either  officially  or  pri- 
vately, as  you  may  deem  most  proper,  and  as  soon  as  convenient.  I 
should  prefer,  in  your  reply,  a  good  excuse  for  non-acceptance. 


"  This  is  a  good  example  of  the  slowness  with  which  news  traveled  in  those 
days.  Tlie  surgeon-general  had  died  on  October  18,  1836,  yet  in  eighteen  days 
the  information  had  not  reached  an  important  army  post  less  than  half  way 
across  the  continent. 


1835~1840~News  of  His  Patent  Digester  243 

After  waiting  three  and  a  half  months  for  a  reply  from  the 
department,  he  finally  conveyed  his  provisional  acceptance  of  the 
chair  of  surgery  to  the  secretary  of  the  board: 

I  have  consented  to  accept  for  the  time  being  the  preferred  '"Chair  of 
Surgery"  in  the  ^Medical  Department  of  the  St.  Louis  University,  with  the 
privilege  of  withdrawing  from  the  said  professorship  at  any  time,  should 
the  heads  of  the  Public  Departments  under  which  I  am  oiEcially  placed 
here  withhold  their  consent  or  disapprove  the  act,  and  from  which  De- 
partments I  have  not  yet  received  any  reply  to  a  communication  made  on 
the  subject  some  months  since,  owing,  I  doubt  not,  to  the  extreme  ill- 
ness and  death  of  the  Surgeon-General  about  the  time  it  reached  Wash- 
ington, and  his  successor  not  having  yet  assumed  the  duties  of  that 
office  sufficiently  to  attend  to  it. 

For  some  reason  the  plans  of  the  university  did  not  materialize 
in  the  autumn  of  1837 — in  fact,  not  for  several  years  thereafter 
(1842).  It  may  be  stated  here  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  Dr. 
Beaumont  ever  delivered  any  lectures  after  the  medical  department 
opened  its  doors,  though  he  promised  to  deliver  a  single  course  of 
lectures  on  digestion  in  1851.  providing  he  could  succeed  in  pro- 
curing Alexis. 

He  was  still  in  active  correspondence  with  his  friends  in  the 
North  with  reference  to  St.  ]\Iartin.  In  April  of  this  year  (1837) 
Mr.  ]\Iorrison  had  written  from  Berthier  that  he  had  just  seen 
Alexis,  that  he  was  living  about  fifteen  miles  from  Berthier,  and 
that  he  was  ready  and  "willing  to  leave  at  a  moment's  warning 
upon  condition  that  his  family  goes  with  him.''  ]\Ir.  II.  L.  Dous- 
man,  also  an  officer  of  the  American  Fur  Company,  wrote  at  this 
time  a  very  friendly  letter  to  the  Doctor,  in  which  he  added : 

.  .  .  Now  for  your  Patent  Digester,  Mons.  Alexis.  AVe  brot  up  Men 
enough  from  Montreal  last  Spring  to  answer  us  for  two  years;  conse- 
quently we  have  ordered  none  for  next  season,  but  the  company  will 
probably  send  some  up  for  the  Lake  Superior  traders,  as  they  do  every 
year.  They  are  sent  via  the  Grand  River  to  Sault  de  St.  Marie,  in  which 
case  Alexis  could  come  up  with  them  to  that  place  and  then  via  Mackinac 
and  Chicago  to  your  place.  You  must  write  immediately  to  Mr.  Crooks 
at  N.  York,  and  state  to  him  all  the  circumstances  and  your  wishes,  and 
I  know  he  will  do  all  in  his  power  for  you  promptly,  and,  if  they  send 
up  men,  he  will  order  Alexis  to  be  sent  with  them.  Write  to  Mr.  Morri- 
son also,  and  I  know  he  will  interest  himself  to  see  that  Alexis  is  sent 
off  at  the  proper  time.  I  shall  mention  to  Mr.  Crooks  in  my  next  letter 
that  he  will  confer  a  very  particular  favor  on  me  by  immediately  attending 
to  your   wishes.     .     .     .     Perhaps   IMr.   Crooks  covild   find   means   to  have 


24:-l  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^ViUialn  Beautnont 

Alexis  brot  via  Lake  Champlain  to  Albany,  thence  to  Buffalo  and  Chi- 
cago. I  think  you  had  better  suggest  to  him,  in  case  they  send  men  up, 
via  the  Grand  River.  I  do  not  believe  it  will  be  much  more  expensive, 
and  it  will  certainly  be  more  expeditious,  as  he  can  reach  you  in  about 
a  month  from  Canada  that  way.     .     .     . 

He  was  spurred  on  to  still  further  efforts  to  obtain  his  "patent 
digester"  through  a  letter  received  from  the  American  Physio- 
logical Society,  making  inquiries  concerning  Alexis  and  the  pos- 
sibility of  having  him  come  to  Boston  for  experimentation.  In 
replying  to  this  communication.  Dr.  Beaumont  wrote : 

I  have  to  express  my  gratification  for  your  generous  applause  of  my 
efforts  to  improve,  perhaps,  the  unparalleled  and  only  opportunity  for  a 
correct  investigation  of  the  physiology  of  digestion,  and  to  say  to  you 
that  St.  Martin,  if  not  on  his  way  to  join  me  at  this  place  for  the  pur- 
pose of  renewing,  continuing  and  revising  the  experiments  already  be- 
gun, is  in  Lower  Canada,  somewhere  between  Montreal  and  Quebec.  He 
is  engaged  to  me,  and  has  been  under  contract  for  two  or  three  years  past, 
for  the  express  purpose  suggested  above,  but  has  been  prevented  from 
surrendering  himself  to  me,  partly  from  the  situation  of  his  family  and 
its  affairs,  but  more  perhaps  from  the  natural  obstinacy  of  his  disposition 
and  unwillingness  to  submit  himself  for  public  experiments,  and  obstinacy 
and  unwillingness  most  pertinaciously  persisted  in  from  the  beginning, 
and  particularly  embarrassing  and  vexatious  to  me  through  all  my  former 
experiments.  He  has  recently  written,  however,  that  he  is  now  ready, 
and  wishes  to  return  to  me;  and  I  have  made  arrangements  to  get  him 
on  here  with  his  family,  and  hope  soon  to  see  him. 

He  has  always  refused  and  positively  declared  that  he  would  never 
submit  to  be  experimented  upon  by  any  other  person  or  persons  than  my- 
self, and  has  ever  declined  all  offers  and  inducements  from  individuals 
and  societies  to  engage  to  them  for  that  purpose.  I  presume  no  consid- 
eration v.'hatever  would  induce  him  to  engage  himself  to  the  American 
Physiological  Society,  or  any  other  society,  for  the  purpose  of  experimen- 
tation without  my  personal  attention  and  direction.  He  is  capriciously 
and  foolishly  obstinate  in  that  respect,  and  has  always  been.  It  has  ever 
been  my  wish  and  effort  to  place  him  in  some  scientific  physiological  in- 
stitution, where  greater  and  more  extensive  justice  might  be  done  the 
subject  of  experimenting  upon  him  than  has  ever  been  in  my  power  to 
do,  but  he  has  ever  and  determinedly  refused  his  assent  to  such  an  ar- 
rangement. My  present  intention  is  to  get  him  with  me  again  com- 
mence a  new  series  of  experiments  under  the  most  favorable  auspices 
practicable  in  this  country,  associated,  as  I  intend  to  be,  with  some  of 
the  best  physiological  societies  and  scientific  men  of  the  West,  and  prose- 
cute the  experimental  investigation  to  the  best  advantage  practicable  till 
circumstances  will  allow  me  to  take  him  to  some  of  the  European  Physio- 
logical  Schools   for  the   greater   improvement   of   medical   science.     Duly 


1835-1840 — Alexis  is  in  Demand  245 

appreciating  the  importance  of  the  subject  and  the  occasion,  I  perfectly 
coincide  with  you  and  your  society  in  the  opinion  that  facilities  it  affords 
for  so  useful  physiological  investigations  ought  not  to  be  lost  sight  of 
nor  neglected. 

Not  long  after  this  a  letter  written  in  excellent  style  and  hand- 
writing, to  which  was  affixed  Alexis'  mark,  Avas  received:  . 

I  have  received  a  letter  a  few  months  ago  from  a  Mr.  David  Campbell, 
corresponding  secretary  of  the  American  Physiological  Society,  of  the 
city  of  Boston,  in  Massachusetts,  offering  to  engage  me  for  a  term  of 
three  or  six  months,  to  be  placed  under  the  direction  of  an  eminent  physi- 
cian for  the  purpose  of  experiments  on  digestion  similar  to  those  you  have 
made.  I  have  not  given  an  answer  yet,  determined  that  I  am  not  to 
accept  the  offer  without  your  approbation  and  consent.  I  have  made  sev- 
eral inquiries  concerning  your  place  of  residence,  but  without  having 
learnt  anything  satisfactory.  I  now  venture  to  direct  this  letter  to  Mr. 
Thomas  Green,  at  Plattsburgh,  in  hopes  he  will  have  the  kindness  to  for- 
ward it  to  you.  I  would  wish  to  know  if  you  would  have  me  to  go  to 
you,  or  if  you  would  approve  of  my  accepting  the  offer  made  me.  Should 
you  desire  me  to  join  you  with  my  family,  I  am  ready  at  any  time  to  go 
with  you  on  such  terms  as  you  may  fix  yourself. 

Fearing  Alexis  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  other  investigators, 
the  Doctor  determined  to  follow  the  suggestion  of  ]Mr.  Donsman, 
and  applied  to  Mr.  Crooks  again  to  use  his  influence  and  facilities 
to  bring  him  back : 

.  .  .  I  should  much  prefer  to  have  him  without  his  family,  if  I  can; 
but  with  it,  if  I  must.  To  have  him  again  has  become  almost  indispens- 
ably necessary  to  answer  the  reiterated  demands  of  foreign  journals  and 
institutions  for  further  investigations  of  the  gastric  functions,  etc.  He 
engaged  in  1834  for  two  years  to  come  with  me  to  this  place,  but  it  be- 
came necessary,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  incumbrance  of  his  family 
and  leave  them  comfortably  situated  with  their  friends  in  Canada,  to  ad- 
vance $80  or  $100.  .  .  .  But  he  disappointed  both  me  and  the  public 
by  concluding  to  stay  with  his  family  in  Canada,  where  he  has  remained 
ever  since.  I  should  like  to  have  him  fulfil  his  agreement  first,  if  he  will; 
if  not,  to  engage  him  on  the  best  terms  practicable,  to  be  brought  on 
with  the  voyageurs  for  your  trade  and  transferred  to  me  when  he  ar- 
rives in  this  country,  as  was  done  in  1828.  He  will  doubtless  need  some 
adv^ances  to  enable  him  to  start,  but  he  must  not  have  any  before  his 
forthcoming  be  secured;  if  he  do,  he  may  play  the  same  trick  he  did 
last — refuse  to  come  after  all.  I  hereby  authorize  any  reasonable  sum 
necessary  to  the  comfortable  leaving  of  his  family  there,  or  conveniently 
bringing  them  on  with  him  here,  at  your  discretion,  the  which  shall  be 
refunded  at  sight.     .     .     . 


246  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

111  due  time  ^Ir.  Crooks  replied: 

He  can  be  had  by  advancing  him  probably  $150  to  get  him  clear  of 
Lov/er  Canada,  and  pay  the  traveling  expenses  of  himself  and  family  to 
St.  Louis.  His  wife  will  not  allow  him  to  go  alone,  and  in  that  event 
he  must  come  round  the  lakes  to  Cleveland  or  Chicago  and  then  to  St. 
Louis.  There  is  some  risk  in  this,  but  you  must  incur  the  hazard  if  you 
wish  to  have  the  man.  I  would  have  sent  him  by  the  Grand  River  in  our 
canoe  to  Sault  St.  Marie  next  month,  had  he  been  alone,  but  it  cannot  be 
done  with  his  family.     .     .     . 

Siinultaueously  a  letter  came  from  Mr.  Morrison,  informing  him 
that  the  St.  IMartins  lost  their  son,  Alexis,  Jr.,  and  that  there  were 
three  children  remaining;  that  the  entire  family  was  destitute  of 
clothing,  and  Alexis  had  fallen  into  dissolute  and  dissipated  habits ; 
that  he  could  not  be  trusted  with  money,  but  would  squander  it 
promptly  if  given  to  him  in  advance.  In  view  of  all  these  dis- 
couraging reports,  together  Avith  the  fact  that  Alexis  seemed 
determined  not  to  go  without  his  family.  Dr.  Beaumont  discon- 
tinued his  efforts  for  a  period  of  two  or  three  years,  with  the  hope 
that  an  opportunity  would  present  itself  to  send  some  one  after 
Alexis  or  to  go  himself. 

In  the  meantime  Sir  Andrew  Combe,"  an  eminent  English  physi- 
ologist, was  not  content  with  the  excellent  references  that  he  had 
made  to  Beaumont's  observations  in  his  work  on  dietetics,®  but 
published  an  English  edition  of  the  work  in  April,  1838.''  In  his 
preface  he  presents  the  most  impartial  estimate  of  the  value  of 
Beaumont's  contributions  to  science  that  I  have  yet  seen.  At  the 
same  time,  however,  it  may  be  considered  a  fair  summary  of  the 
opinions  voiced  by  his  impartial  contemporaries  in  general,  as  well 
as  by  those  who  in  after  years  have  endeavored  to  do  Beaumont 
justice.     I  feel,  therefore,  that  I  can  do  no  better  in  giving  an  esti- 


"^  Sir  Andrew  Combe  wa.s  one  of  tho.'je  unusual  characters  who.  in  spite  of  the 
great  odds  again.st  which  he  fought,  left  his  mark  on  the  pages  of  medical  sci- 
ence. During  twenty-seven  years  of  his  life  he  was  simultaneously  making  the 
fight  against  tuberculosis  and  adding  valuable  contributions  to  science.  He  was 
one  of  seventeen  children  and  of  poor  parentage,  and  his  ailment  was  attributed 
to  conditions  surrounding  his  home — offensive  pools  and  ditches,  defective  ven- 
tilation, small  and  overcrowded  rooms,  unsuitable  food,  and  inadequate  clothing. 
He  learned  medicine  as  an  apprentice  in  England,  afterward  studying  in  Paris. 
In  spite  of  the  constant  strain  under  which  he  labored,  he  made  valuable  re- 
searches in  physiology-  and  phrenologj'.  contributing  not  less  than  eighty  articles 
on  various  phrenological  subjects  during  his  lifetime.  He  visited  his  brother 
in  America  in  1S47,  hoping  to  be  benefited  by  the  trip.  (Memoir  of  the  Life  and 
Writings  of  the  Late  Dr.   Andrew  Combe.) 

*  "The  Physiologj'  of  Digestion  Considered  in  Relation  to  the  Principles  of 
Dietetics,"  second  edition;  Edinburgh,  1837. 

°  "Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juice  and  the  Physiology  of 
Digestion."  by  Wm.  Beaumont,  M.  D.,  of  the  United  States  Army;  reprinted, 
•with  notes  by  Andrew  Combe,  M.  D. ;  1  vol.,  post  8vo.;  Edinburgh,  18-38. 


1835-1840 — .S';r  Andrew  Comde's  Preface  247 

mate  of  his  work  than  to  present,  in  part,  the  remarks  of  Sir 
Andrew  Combe  in  his  preface  to  the  English  edition  of  Beaumont's 
book: 

The  reasons  which  have  induced  me  to  reprint  the  present  work  from 
the  American  original  are,  first,  a  strong  sense  of  its  inherent  importance, 
and  of  the  numerous  applications  which  may  be  made  of  the  facts  and 
principles  developed  in  it  to  the  prevention  and  cure  of  disease;  secondly, 
its  comparative  inaccessibility  to  the  European  physiologist  from  the 
difficulty  which  still  exists  of  procuring  it  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic; 
and,  lastly,  an  earnest  desire  that  the  author  should  obtain  that  credit 
which  is  unquestionably  due  to  his  disinterested  and  indefatigable  labors. 
The  value  of  Dr.  Beaumont's  experiments  consists  partly  in  the  admirable 
opportunities  for  observation  which  he  enjoyed,  and  partly  in  the  candid 
and  truth-seeking  spirit  in  which  all  his  inquiries  seem  to  have  been  con- 
ducted. 

So  far,  then,  as  opportunity  for  observation  was  concerned,  nothing 
could  surpass  that  enjoyed  by  Dr.  Beaumont.  That  Dr.  Beaumont  eagerly 
and  zealously  availed  himself  of  his  unusual  advantages,  the  following 
pages  furnish  ample  evidence,  and  it  would,  I  think,  be  difficult  to  poini 
out  any  observer  who  excels  him  in  devotion  to  truth  and  freedom  from 
the  trammels  of  theory  and  prejudice.  Among  the  disciplined  phj'siolo- 
gists  of  Europe  a  more  systematic  experimenter  might  certainly  have 
been  found,  but  in  Dr.  Beaumont's  instance  the  absence  of  systematized 
inquiry — made  too  generally  in  support  of  preconceived  theory,  and  there- 
fore apt  to  mislead  as  well  as  instruct — is  more  than  compensated  by  the 
implicit  reliance  which  one  feels  can  be  placed  on  the  accuracy  and 
candor  of  his  statements.  Having  no  theory  to  support,  and  no  favorite 
point  to  establish.  Dr.  Beaumont  tells  plainly  what  he  saw,  and  leaves 
every  one  to  draw  his  own  inferences;  or,  where  he  lays  down  conclu- 
sions, he  does  so  with  a  degree  of  modesty  and  fairness  of  which  few  per- 
haps in  his  circumstances  would  have  been  capable.     .     .     . 

But  it  may  be  said,  singularly  favorable  as  Dr.  Beaumont's  opportu- 
nities were,  he  has  made  no  original  discovery  in  the  physiology  of 
digestion.  To  a  certain  extent  this  is  true,  for,  in  the  proper  sense  of  the 
word,  he  has  not  made  and  does  not  claim  to  have  made  any  discovery, 
but  he  has  done  what  is  at  least  equally  essential  for  practical  purposes. 
By  separating  the  truth  clearly  and  unequivocally  from  the  numerous 
errors  of  fact  and  opinion  with  which  it  was  mixed  up,  and  thus  convert- 
ing into  certainties  points  of  doctrine  in  regard  to  which  positive  proofs 
were  previously  inaccessible,  he  has  given  to  what  was  doubtful  or  im- 
perfectly known  a  fixed  and  positive  value  which  it  never  had  before, 
and  which,  being  once  obtained,  goes  far  to  furnish  us  with  a  clear,  con- 
nected, and  consistent  view  of  the  general  process  and  laws  of  digestion. 
Other  phj'siologists  have  attempted  to  effect  the  same  end  by  experiments 
performed  upon  the  lower  animals,  but  these  are  open  to  so  many  forcible 
objections  that  we  cannot  always  adopt  their  conclusions,  even  where  they 


248  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WilliaiH  Beaumont 

seem  to  be  most  clearly  deduced.  Not  to  mention  the  cruelty  inseparable 
from  the  performance  of  such  experiments,  the  pain  which  the  animal 
suffers  necessarily  disturbs  the  regularity  of  the  functions  under  examina- 
tion, and  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  vitiates  the  results.  And  even  if  this 
were  not  the  case,  the  difference  between  the  digestive  organs  in  man  and 
in  the  lower  animals  is  so  great  that  it  would  often  be  unsafe  to  assume 
conclusions  as  applicable  to  the  former  which  have  been  verified  only  in 
the  latter. 

In  the  present  volume  it  is  proper  to  bear  in  mind  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  experiments  were  made  and  the  account  of  them  was 
written.  Dr.  Beaumont  was  far  from  enjoying  the  leisure,  resources,  and 
scientific  co-operation  so  easily  accessible  to  the  physiologists  of  any  of- 
our  European  capitals.  Stationed  in  a  comparatively  remote  quai-ter  in  the 
exercise  of  his  duties  as  an  army  surgeon,  and  previously  unaccustomed 
to  minute  physiological  research,  he  conducted  his  inquiry  under  many 
minor  disadvantages.  When  he  came  to  publish,  also,  his  want  of  experi- 
ence in  writing  prevented  him  from  making  the  most  of  his  materials,  and 
doing  that  justice  to  himself  which  he  might  otherwise  have  easily  ac- 
complished. In  the  arrangement  of  his  experiments,  for  example.  Dr. 
Beaumont  has  followed  the  order  of  time,  and  thus  mingled  many  things 
together,  where  a  more  practised  inquirer  would  have  classified  them 
according  to  the  subjects  in  illustration  of  which  they  were  performed, 
and  thus  given  a  greater  unity  of  purpose  to  each  of  the  different  series 
of  which  they  are  composed.  But,  although  this  defect  diminishes  the 
facility  of  access  to  the  results,  it  by  no  means  detracts  from  their  in- 
trinsic value.  On  the  contrary,  the  very  absence  of  systematized  arrange- 
ment leaves  a  character  of  even  greater  trustworthiness  attached  to  the 
individual  observations  than  if  the  latter  had  been  made  under  the  influ- 
ence of  some  prominent  guiding  principle,  which  might  have  given  a  bias 
to  the  mind.     .     .     . 

So  much,  indeed,  did  I  consider  the  republication  of  Dr.  Beaumont's 
work  as  a  matter  of  justice  to  him,  that,  had  1  not  expected  its  appear- 
ance from  some  other  quarter  long  ago,  I  would  have  undertaken  the 
task  at  an  earlier  period,  and  even  now  I  can  account  for  the  omission 
only  by  supposing  that  very  few-  copies  of  the  original  have  reached  this 
country.  Everywhere,  both  in  British  and  foreign  books,  we  meet  with 
reference  to  and  often  inaccurate  extracts  from  it,  but  almost  nowhere 
is  it  spoken  of  as  if  the  work  itself  had  been  consulted.  I  trust,  then,  that 
in  now  presenting  it  I  shall  be  considered  as  rendering  an  acceptable 
service  to  British  and  Continental  physiologists,  as  well  as  a  pleasing  act 
of  justice  to  its  deserving  author.     .     .     . 

One  can  not  help  admiring-  the  unselfish  spirit  which  actuated 
Combe  in  the  reproduction  of  Beaumont's  work.  As  soon  as  copies 
were  out  of  the  press,  Combe  sent  through  his  brother  to  Dr. 
Beaumont  an  autograph  volume  of  the  new  edition,  together  with 
a  volume  on  dietetics,  with  the  following  note : 


1835-1840— Beaumont  TJianls  Comhe  249 

Edix,  1  May,  1838. 
My  Dear  Sir:  May  I  beg  your  acceptance  oJ:  the  accompanying  vol- 
umes as  a  small  expression  of  my  respect  of  your  character  and  scientific 
labors.  I  need  not  detain  you  by  repeating  in  this  note  the  high  esti- 
mation in  which  I  hold  you.  The  volumes  herewith  sent  will,  I  trust, 
convince  you  of  the  fact,  and  that  it  will  not  be  my  fault  if  you  do  not 
receive  the  credit  justly  due  to  your  valuable  and  disinterested  services. 
I  remain.  My  dear  Sir, 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

AXDW.     COilBE. 

George  Combe  left  the  books  Avith  Mv.  John  Tnrnbull,  Caiieton 
House,  Broadway,  New  York,  who  promised  to  convey  the  package 
to  Dr.  Beaumont,  believing  that  he  was  still  in  Plattsbnrgh.  On 
learning  that  he  had  moved  to  St.  Louis.  ^Ir.  Turnbull  sent  the 
package  there.  Mr.  William  Combe,  then  residing  in  Albany,  fear- 
ing that  the  package  had  gone  astray,  in  view  of  Dr.  Beaumont's 
change  of  address,  wrote  him  in  ^March,  1839,  making  inquiry.  Dr. 
Beaumont  responded : 

I  am  happy  now  to  have  an  opportunity  of  tendering  my  grateful  ac- 
knowledgements for  the  special  interest  you  have  taken  in  the  publication 
of  my  Gastric  experiments  and  the  disinterested  compliment  and  credit 
conferred  on  me  by  voluntarily  sending  it  to  yr.  deservedly  distinguished 
Brother  in  Edinburgh,  by  whom  it  has  been  reprinted,  with  valuable  an- 
notations, and  more  than  merited  notice  taken  and  references  made  in 
his  late  invaluable  work  on  Digestion  and  Dietetics,  both  of  which  I  had 
the  special  honor  and  satisfaction  of  reviewing  a  short  time  since  thro 
the  agency  of  Mr.  Turnbull,  of  N.  Y.,  and  by  the  hand  of  Mr.  John  Thor- 
burn.  Mr.  Turnbull  had  advised  me  on  the  subject  several  mos.  before  pr. 
mail,  but,  in  consequence  of  the  unavoidable  delays  of  transportation  from 
low  water  last  fall  and  the  severe  frost  of  the  winter,  the  package  was 
not  reed,  till  the  opening  of  the  navigation  this  Spring,  a  few  weeks  since, 
all  in  good  order,  with  a  very  kind  and  complimentary  note  from  your 
Bro.,  and  acknowledgements  of  which  will  probably  have  reached  him  ere 
you  receive  this.  Sincere  thanks  and  continued  respectful  regards  are  due 
to  my  friend  and  acquaintance,  Dr.  McCall,  and  my  grateful  and  profound 
consideration  to  yr.  Bros,  whenever  you  may  be  so  happy  as  to  see  or 
communicate  with  them,  and  believe  me,  though  an  entire  stranger,  etc. 

The  reply  to  Sir  Andrew,  in  thanking  him  for  the  volumes  of  his 
work,  ran  something  like  this : 

I  have  the  satisfaction  of  acknowledging  the  recent  receipt  of  Copies  of 
your  Work  on  "The  Phys.  of  Digestion  and  Process  of  Dietetics,"  and  Re- 
print of  my  "Expts.  and  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juice,  etc.,"  accom- 
panied by  yr.  very  kind  and  complimentary  note.     .     .     .     The  honor  and 


250 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUia)n  Beeiumont 


Brevet  Brigadier-General  Thomas  Lawson.  surgeon-general  of  the  United 
States  army,  1S36-G1.  (Fiom  an  original  painting  in  the  surgeon-general's 
library,  Washington,  D.  C. ) 

gratification  confer'd  by  thus  tendering  me  the  tokens  of  your  high  re- 
gard and  esteem,  and  the  favorable  notice  talven  of  my  work,  are  far 
more  than  commensurate  with  its  worth,  .  .  .  and  surpass  my  ability 
to  adequate  returns. lo 


^•^  These  incomplete  sentences  were  found  in  rough  draft,   hastily  scribbled  on 
a  slip  of  paper. 


1835-1840 — Hears  Disquieting  Bumors  251 

Dr.  Thomas  Lawson^^  had  been  appointed  to  succeed  Dr.  Lovell 
as  surgeon-general.  It  would  seem  that  when  he  assumed  the  posi- 
tion, it  was  with  some  preconceived  prejudice  and  animosity  against 
his  friend  of  former  days.  One  can  not  help  concluding  from  a 
fair  study  of  the  case  that  this  jealousy  had  been  aroused  by  the 
many  attentions  and  frequent  favors  granted  Beaumont  by  his 
predecessor,  Dr.  Lovell.  "While  Beaumont  was  conducting  his  ex- 
periments on  St.  I\Iartin,  Lovell  permitted  him  to  take  leave  of 
absence  whenever  necessary  to  further  his  studies,  to  change  his 
post  whenever  occasion  demanded  it — in  fact,  gave  him  many  liber- 
ties that  probablj'^  were  not  granted  other  surgeons  in  the  corps. 

Within  a  year-  after  Lawson  assumed  the  reins  of  the  medical 
department.  Beaumont  began  to  hear  rumors  that  he  was  to  be 
transferred  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  a  location  which  would  have 
rendered  private  practice  in  the  city  practically  impossible.  AA'hile 
there  was  no  definite  basis  for  such  fears,  there  was  an  under- 
current which  caused  him  to  feel  rather  restless.  On  February  4th 
Major  Ethan  Allen  Hitchcock^-  wrote  him  from  "Washington : 

I  have  just  had  the  pleasure  to  read  your  letter  of  the  24th  inst.,  and 
the  only  thing  that  grieves  me  is  your  account  of  Lucretia's  arm.  Cap- 
tain Leeis  told  me  she  was  hurt,  but  I  had  no  idea  it  was  a  fracture.  I 
hope  no  effects  of  it  will  remain,  and,  if  so,  she  may  thank  her  stars  for 
her  daddy's  skill.  ...  I  told  Lee  of  Lawson's  inquiries  after  you. 
There  seems  not  the  smallest  hint  of  a  purpose  of  changing  your  station 
— I  mean,  of  ordering  it;  for  as  to  changing  it,  I  suppose  that  is  not  so 
easy  done  as  talked  ahout. 

This  statement  doubtless  put  his  fears  at  rest  for  a  time,  coming, 
as  it  did,  from  one  in  touch  with  the  highest  officials  in  the  army. 
In  the  spring  Beaumont  requested  of  the  surgeon-general  a  leave 
of  absence  for  the  purpose  of  looking  after  some  business  interests 
at  Green  Bay,  in  reply  to  which  Dr.  Lawson  wrote : 

I  have  to  inform  you  that,  as  similar  applications  from  officers  having 
much  stronger  claims  to  Indulgences  than  yourself  have  been  refused  on 


"•Dr.  Thomas  Lawson's  military  career  began  with  tlie  War  of  1S12.  when 
he  was  made  surgeon's  mate,  and  ended  fifty  years  later.  He  was  surgeon- 
general  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  was  recognized  as  a  capable  and  fearless 
executive.  He  inaugurated  many  important  changes  in  the  department  during 
his  administration,  and  welcomed  any  innovation  that  promised  improvement  of 
the  service.  It  is  noteworthy  in  this  connection  that  he  strongly  favored  private 
practice  by  army  medical  officers,  and  ruled  that  "when  it  does  not  interfere 
with  their  military  duties,  medical  officers  have  a  right  to  give  their  professional 
advice  to  whomsoever  they  please."  It  could  not.  therefore,  have  been  this 
factor  which  influenced  him  in  his  attitude  toward  Beaumont. 

^2  In  a  later  chapter  the  intimate  relationship  existing  between  General  Hitch- 
cock and  Dr.  Beaumont  is  brought  out  in  a  series  of  friendlv  communications. 

13  Robert  E.  Lee. 


252  Life  and  Letters  of  Br.  Williatii  Beaumont 

account  of  the  pressing  demands  for  Medical  Officers,  your  request  can 
not  be  granted.  Should  your  private  interest  require  your  presence  at 
Green  Bay,  and  you  think  proper  to  employ  a  suitable  physician  to  per- 
form your  duties  during  your  absence,  free  of  expense  to  the  United 
States,  you  are  authorized  to  do  so,  provided  it  meets  the  approbation  of 
the  Commanding  General  of  the  Department. 

In  the  meantime  .Major  Iliteheoek  had  obtained  other  informa- 
tion concerning-  Lawson's  intentions,  and  had  informed  P)eaumont 
of  it.  With  the  knowledge  and  assurance,  therefore,  that  the 
surgeon-general  would  welcome  an  opportunity  and  a  pretext  for 
making  him  feel  the  force  of  his  official  position,  Beaunx^nt  rcplie*! 
in  a  letter  that  was  anything  but  diplomatic: 

I  regret  that  you  should  think  it  necessary  to  attach  such  conditions 
to  the  leave,  not  so  much  on  account  of  the  expense  it  may  throw  upon 
me  as  the  consideration  that  seems  to  have  prevailed  with  you  that  I 
am  not  entitled  to  the  indulgence  I  requested.  If  for  the  single  reason 
that  no  medical  officer  was  disposable  for  the  performance  of  duty  here 
during  my  absence  you  had  thought  proper  to  charge  the  expense  to  me, 
though  I  might  have  thought  it  hard,  it  would  have  appeared  much  less 
onerous. 

I  do  not  know  what  stronger  claims  others  may  have,  but  I  am  sure 
that  my  request  was  perfectly  reasonable,  and,  if  the  duties  upon  the 
medical  staff  of  the  Army  make  so  exclusive  and  absolute  a  demand  upon 
the  time  of  officers  that  so  reasonable  a  request  cannot  be  complied  with, 
there  is  great  need  of  additional  officers  in  the  Medical  Staff  of  the  Army, 
but  I  rather  think  you  have  in  this  instance  underestimated  my  claims. 
Unless,  however,  you  think  proper  to  reconsider  your  decision,  I  may  be 
compelled  to  pay  the  expense  of  services  here  during  my  absence,  for  a 
just  regard  to  my  interests  will,  I  believe,  oblige  me  to  be  absent  six  or 
eight  weeks. 

While  writing,  I  will  refer  to  a  subject  to  which  my  attention  has  been 
called  by  a  letter  from  Maj.  Hitchcock,  in  which  I  am  informed  that  your 
views  of  the  propriety  of  my  Station  at  this  place  do  not  accord  with 
those  of  your  predecessor,  and  that  you  appear  to  think  Jefferson  Bar- 
racks a  more  suitable  Station. 

Now,  My  Dear  Sir,  without  the  least  desire  to  question  the  correctness 
of  your  views,  or  the  propriety  of  your  general  arrangement  of  the  Medi- 
cal Department,  permit  me  respectfully  to  ask  (and  I  hope  you  will  do  me 
the  favor,  candidly  and  promptly,  to  answer)  whether  you  have  any  such 
arrangement  in  contemplation,  or  even  seriously  think  of  ordering  me 
from  this  to  Jefferson  Barracks?  I  presume  to  be  thus  frank  and  explicit 
from  agreeable  recollections  of  former  friendly  associations, i-i  the  confi- 
dence I  feel  in  the  candor  and  correctness  of  your  disposition,  and  firm 


14  They  had  been  fellow-officers  in  the  War  of  1812. 


1835-1840 — Letter  to  Surgeon-General  Lawson  253 

belief  in  your  general  desire  to  promote  the  greatest  good  of  the  public 
service  with  the  least  prejudice  and  inconvenience  to  the  individual  in- 
terests of  your  Department.  I  would  ask  then,  how  can  Jefferson  Bar- 
racks, in  its  present  endowments,  be  considered  more  appropriate  or  im- 
portant a  Station  for  me,  or  any  other  medical  officer  of  whom  the  same 
duties  would  be  required,  than  this  city?  The  amount  and  importance  of 
the  official  duties  required  at  that  Station  bear  no  comparison  with  those 
to  be  performed  here.  There  are  Gen.  Atkinson,  his  family,  a  handful 
of  recruits  occasionally  and  some  few  useless  old  soldiers,  with  nothing 
to  do  but  to  preserve  their  health,  if  they  will,  by  procuring  and  regulat- 
ing their  own  diet,  scarce  liable  to  accidents  and  more  seldom  to  disease, 
spending  much  of  the  time  in  this  city,  and  receiving  the  benefits  of  my 
professional  advice  and  prescriptions  whenever  wished  for  or  requested. 
But  here  in  St.  Louis  are  located  six  or  seven  Army  officers  and  their 
families,  Lt.  Col.  Brant,  Majors  Lee  and  Stewart,  Capt.  Kingsbury,  Capt. 
Lee,  Lt.  Reed  and  Ruggles,  a  recruiting  Rendezvous,  with  its  party  and 
recruits  to  be  prescribed  to,  examined  and  reported.  The  Arsenal,  with 
its  command,  some  twenty  or  thirty  men,  besides  women  and  children,  and 
Capt.  Symington,  his  family  and  subalternes,  members  of  military  courts, 
sojourning  officers,  under  orders  and  transient  members  of  the  Army, 
which  are  neither  few  nor  far  between,  all  of  whom  claim  and  receive  my 
free  and  gratuitous  professional  services,  all  these  together,  with  the 
duties  of  Medical  Purveyor  for  the  Western  Division,  make  the  official 
duties  required  of  me  here  constant  and  multifarious,  and  ten  times  more 
important,  necessary  and  useful  than  can  possibly  be  required  at  the 
Barracks  in  the  present  state  of  service. 

Under  this  view  of  the  subject  and  present  exigency,  it  is  impossible 
to  conceive  the  necessity,  or  even  the  propriety,  of  modifying  the  present 
arrangements  by  ordering  me  to  any  other  post  or  station,  unless  it  be  to 
devolve  upon  me  the  necessity  of  making  great  sacrifices  of  interest  and 
inclination,  or  of  being  compelled  to  resign  my  place  in  the  Army,  either 
of  which  alternative  would  be  very  unpleasant,  and  neither  of  which  do  1 
hope  to  be  forced  to. 

I  am,  and  always  have  been,  willing  and  ready  to  perform  any  dutj^ 
required  of  me,  am  now  willing  to  continue  to  attend  to  those  incumbent 
on  me  at  this  Station,  which  are  equally  arduous  and  necessary  with 
those  of  any  other,  and  of  paramount  importance  to  most  others  in  service. 

Now,  uninformed  of  any  particular  exigency,  unaware  of  having  for- 
feited my  claims  to  the  common  indulgence  or  my  right  (after  my  sen- 
iors) i5  to  a  preference  of  Stations,  and  conscious  of  having  faithfully  dis- 
charged my  duties  to  the  Government,  I  cannot  acknowledge  just  cause, 
or  even  seriously  anticipate  an  order  of  removal  from  this  place.  I  pre- 
sume some  envious  or  discontented  junior  would  be  glad  to  see  my  Station 


1^  "Senior  surgeons  and  as.sistant  surgeons  shall  respectively  have  choice  of 
stations  on  written  application  through  the  surgeon-general,  specifying  the  regi- 
ment or  post  preferred,"  etc.  (Brown's  "History  of  the  Medical  Department  of 
the  United  States.") 


254  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  AViUiani  Beaumont 

changed,  but  I  know  you  would  not  j'ield  your  official  sanction  to  gratify 
any  of  that  class. 

Allow  me  to  add  here,  without  subjecting  myself  to  the  charge  of  vanity 
or  egotism,  that  for  any  pi-ofessional  advantages  I  may  be  supposed  to 
enjoy  here  I  am  not  indebted  to  the  Government,  but  to  my  character  and 
exertions.  These  advantages,  be  they  more  or  less,  are  not  an  incident  to 
the  Station,  but  are  fruits  of  toil,  I  am  sure,  if  not  talent,  and  it  is  by  no 
means  certain  that  a  successful  applicant  for  my  Station  as  a  public  of- 
ficer would  likewise  succeed  to  the  advantages  I  may  properly  character- 
ize as  personal. 

I  confide  in  the  uprightness  of  your  disposition,  and  rely  upon  the  cor- 
rectness and  impartiality  of  your  judgment. 

He  evidently  received  no  satisfaction  from  the  department  in 
reply  to  his  letter,  which  could  not  do  otherwise  than  add  fnel  to 
the  fire  -which  was  already  smoldering.  The  following  letter  to 
his  friend.  Dr.  King,  indicated  that  he  was  well  aware  of  the  fate 
that  was  in  store  for  him.  though  there  was  still  some  uncertainty 
as  to  the  nature  of  the  undeserved  rebuke  that  would  be  meted  out 
to  him : 

Accept  my  thanks  for  yr  kind  solicitude  for  my  desire  and  ambition. 
I  am  in  full  run  of  successful  and  lucrative  professional  practice  in  this 
Cit.v,  to  the  exclusion  almost  of  the  common  civilities  and  hospitalities 
due  to  old  friends  and  acquaintances.  I  am  too  constantly  engaged  in 
professional  duties  to  enjoy  my  friends  or  the  comforts  and  pleasures  of 
domestic  and  social  life.  Official  duties,  though  as  ardent  and  important 
here  as  at  any  other  Station,  constitute  but  a  small  portion  of  my  labors, 
and  were  but  very  little  increased  by  the  "Military  of  Rank,"  as  you  term 
It,  while  they  were  with  us. 

I  hear  frequently  from  various  sources  that  I  am  to  be  removed  from 
this  station,  ordered  to  Florida,  etc.,  etc.  But  I  don't  believe  it.  I  have 
too  much  confidence  in  the  correctness  and  management  of  the  Head  of 
our  Department,  and  the  justness  of  my  claim  to  this  preference,  to  appre- 
hend for  a  moment  that  I  shall  be  removed  at  all  without  some  more  im- 
portant immergency  or  pressing  necessity  than  seems  now  to  exist.  So 
long  as  the  Government  sees  fit  to  continue  this  as  a  Station  for  a  Medi- 
cal Officer,  I  shall  expect  to  retain  it,  in  preference  to  any  discontented 
Junior  ofllcial,  the  murmurings  and  importunities  (if  any  there  be)  of 
either  Succors  or  juniors  of  the  Line  or  Staff  to  the  [contrary]  nothwith- 
standing.  The  offl.  duties  to  be  performed  here  are  as  important  and 
arduous  as  at  most  other  places.  I  have  and  shall  continue  to  perform 
these  as  faithfully  as  any  other  officer  could,  with  equal  convenience  and 
much  more  advantage  to  myself.  I  know  of  none  with  fairer  claims.  I 
confide  in  the  justice  and  integrity  of  the  Heads  of  the  Departments,  and 
greatly  appreciate  your  friendly  and  efficient  influence  in  my  behalf,  and 
will  thank  you  to  continue  if  necessary. 


1835-1840—0 nlered  to  Florida  255 

I  here  enclose  you  a  Ten  dollar  V.  S.  Bank  note  as  my  proportion  of 
the  present  assessment  to  the  memory  of  our  mutually  lamented  and  re- 
spected chief.16  It  ought  to  have  been  forwarded  before,  but  the  constant 
press  of  professional  business  is  the  only  excuse  I  have  to  offer.  Should 
more  be  necessary  to  complete  the  work,  I  shall  freely  add  my  proportion 
to  any  for  the  contribution.  I  hope  it  will  not  fail  to  reflect  honor  upon 
the  survivors  as  well  as  the  deceased  by  its  design  and  execution. 

I  have  only  time  to  add  my  best  respects  for  the  Surgn.  Genl.,  and  hope 
he  has  ere  this  perfectly  recovered  his  health,  and  feels  disposed  to  let 
me  "quiet  be"  whei'e  I  am  while  I  am  able  to  perform  the  duties  that 
might  be  required  of  a  successor,  for  I  fear  I  am  getting  too  old  and  in- 
firm, or  too  indolent  and  selfish,  to  be  ordered  away  while  there  are  so 
many  juniors  requiring  active  field  duties  to  perfect  them  in  their  pro- 
fessional qualifications  and  enhance  their  official  usefulness. 

About  a  montli  later  Dr.  Beaumont's  worst  fears  were  realized 
in  the  receipt  of  "General  Order  No.  48" : 

Adjutant  Generals  Office, 
Washington,  Septr.  18th,  1839. 

By  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  a  Medical  Board,  to  be  composed 
of  Surgeon  W.  Beaumont,  Surgeon  P.  H.  Craig,  Surgeon  R.  C.  Wood,  and 
Surgeon  H.  A.  Stinnecke,  Supernumerary  member,  will  convene  at  Fort 
Brooks,  Florida,  on  the  15th  of  November,  1839,  or  as  soon  thereafter  as. 
practicable,  for  the  purpose  of  examining  such  Surgeons  and  Assistant 
Surgeons  of  the  Army  as  may  be  ordered  to  present  themselves  before 
it.     .     .     . 

By  order  of  Major  General  Macomb. 

On  the  receipt  of  the  order.  Beaumont  tendered  his  conditional 
resignation,  providing  the  department  still  insisted  on  his  going  to 
Florida.  Not  content  with  this,  the  department  maintained  that 
the  order  must  be  carried  out  before  his  resignation  could  be  con- 
sidered, as  shown  hj  the  answer  of  Dr.  Lawson : 

Your  letter  of  the  3d  instant  and  the  accompanying  copy  of  a  communi- 
cation to  the  Adjutant-General  of  the  Army  have  been  received.  The 
Secretary  of  Wari'  has  decided  that  you  shall  obey  the  order  directing 
you  to  proceed  to  Florida  before  he  will  take  into  consideration  the  tender 
of  your  resignation. 

Hearing  of  Beaumont's  resignation,  his  dear  friend.  Major 
Hitchcock,  wrote  him  from  "Washington  a  letter  full  of  sympathy 


'^^  The  medical  corps  of  the  army  erected  a  monument  to  the  memory  of 
Surgeon-General  Lovell.  soon  after  his  death,  in  the  Congressional  Cemeterj-  at 
Washington,  D.   C. 

^''  J.  R.  Poinsette.  It  is  a  rule  of  the  army  that  an  officer  may  not  resign 
while  under  orders. 


256  Life  and  Lettirs  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

aud  expressing  his  views  of  the  shortsighted  policy  of  the  surgeon- 
general. 

I  will  not  travel  any  further  without  sending  you  one  line  at  least.  I 
hear  with  regret  of  your  resignation,  though  it  was  what  I  expected  as 
soon  as  I  heard  of  your  orders.  This  thing  is  all  wrong,  but  it  appears 
beyond  remedy.  The  policy  of  the  department  has  driven  the  best  sur- 
geon out  of  the  army  without  the  slightest  occasion.  I  am  sorry  to  lose 
you  from  the  same  profession  in  which  I  serve  for  the  double  reason  of 
personal  friendship  and  professional  pride.  Nothing  but  a  miserable  and 
contracted  view  of  the  public  service  could  have  dictated  the  late  orders. 
In  the  medical  branch  of  the  service  the  officers  ought  to  be  encouraged 
in  their  efforts  to  obtain  private  practice,  for  in  that  department  experi- 
ence is  almost  everthing,  and  the  medical  officer  who  has  the  most  exten- 
sive private  practice  is  not  only  proved  by  that  fact  to  be  the  best  phy- 
sician, but  confers  the  highest  honor  on  the  service.  The  late  course  is 
wrong  in  other  respects.  It  is  unjust  to  you  individually,  for  exceptions 
are  made  to  what  in  your  case  may  be  asserted  to  be  a  rule.  .  .  .  But 
the  mischief  is  done,  and  all  I  can  say  now  is,  God  bless  you  in  your  en- 
trance into  civil  life,  and  make  you  prosperous  and  happy  as  you  deserve 
to  be,  for  a  better  physician  or  better  man  is  not  to  be  found  in  any 
country.     .     .     . 

P.  S.  Mr.  Johnson  arrived  last  evening,  and  tells  me  he  left  you  all 
well.  He  says  Captain  Lee  spoke  of  coming  East,  as  his  worki*  has  been 
suspended.     If  he  is  still  with  you,  pray  give  him  my  best  regards. 

To  this  Dr.  Beaumont  replied : 

.  .  .  It  is  a  matter  of  perfect  indifference  to  me  whether  I  continue 
in  the  Army  or  not,  but  any  attempt  to  cast  disgrace  or  censure  upon  my 
character  or  conduct  will  be  manfully  resisted.  When  they  expunge  my 
name.  I  will  expose  their  wickedness  and  partiality  for  rascality.  But 
enough  of  this — let  them  mind  their  own  business  and  I  will  mind  mine. 

Soon  hereafter  (December  2()tli  i  he  wrote  Adjutant-General 
Jones : 


i^In  1835  Captain  Robert  E.  Lee  was  sent  to  St.  Louis  in  charge  of  a  corps 
of  engineers,  where  he  performed  a  most  important  service  in  preventing  the 
Mississippi  river  from  changing  its  course  and  from  leaving  the  city  "high  and 
diy."'  At  the  game  time  he  designed  a  s.vstem  of  river  improvements.  His 
work  kept  liim  here  for  several  years,  during  which  time  an  intimat'i  relation- 
ship sprang  up  between  him  and  Dr.  Beaumont.  Lee  spent  many  leisure  hours 
at  the  Beaumont  home  and  endeared  himself  to  every  member  of  the  family. 
The  following  note  from  Mrs.  Lee  to  Sarah  Beaumont  gives  a  fair  idea  of  tlie 
intimate  relationship  existing  between  the  families:  ""My  Dear  Sarah:  I  went 
over  to  the  gieat  city  of  Washington  yesterday  to  look  for  something  pretty  to 
send  you.  but  I  suppose  the  members  of  Congress  have  taken  everything  with 
them,  for  1  could  tind  nothing  worth  sending.  Such  as  they  are.  tho.  you  must 
wear  for  my  sake.  The  ring  Custis  sends  to  Cushy  and  the  comb  to  Bud.  The 
gauze  cap  ribbon  I  send  to  your  mother.  Tell  her  she  must  wear  it  at  her 
musical  soirees,  and  I  send  you  a  neck  libbon  of  a  very  fashionable  style  and 
a  pair  of  riding  gloves.  Mr.  Lee  has  packed  up  my  letter  and  is  waiting  for 
these  things,  and  so  farewell  again.     Yours.  M.   C.    L." 


1835-1840 — His  Fesignation   Accepted  257 

Having  conscientiously  assigned  good  and  sufficient  reasons  for  not 
complying  with  Order  No.  48  in  my  communication  to  you  of  Oct.  3rd, 
I  had  hoped  they  would  have  induced  the  countermanding  of  the  order  or 
the  acceptance  of  my  resignation.  But  it  has  been  stated  here  in  pres- 
ence of  several  gentlemen  by  a  lawyer  recently  from  Washington,  who 
assumes  to  be  in  the  confidence  of  the  Secretary,  that  I  am  to  be  stricken 
from  the  rolls  for  non-compliance  with  the  order  referred  to.  I  cannot  be- 
lieve such  injustice  will  be  done  me.  I  have  served  more  than  twenty 
years  honestly  and  faithfully,  and  know  no  law,  rule,  regulation  or  prece- 
dent that  should  prevent  my  withdrawing  from  the  service  when  I  can- 
not perform  the  duties  required  of  me. 

I  shall  not  advert  to  other  cases  or  draw  comparisons  between  faithful 
service  and  dishonor,  but  I  do  expect  that  the  former  in  our  government 
will  at  least  meet  with  as  much  forbearance  and  more  favor  than  the  latter. 
I  am,  and  ever  have  been,  actuated  by  just  and  honest  motives  toward  the 
public  service,  with  no  more  selfishness  than  strict  duty  to  myself  and 
family  and  the  approaching  infirmities  of  age  impei'atively  demand.  I 
ask  no  more  of  the  government.     I  will  not  expect  less. 

Captain  Lee  had  returned  to  AVashington,  having  suspended  his 
"work  in  St,  Louis,  and  soon  afterward  wrote  to  Miss  Sarah  Beau- 
mont, who  was  a  great  favorite  with  both  Lee  and  Hitchcock : 

Tell  the  Doctor  that  among  my  first  visits  was  one  to  the  Surgeon- 
General.  He  was  very  mysterious.  ...  I  endeavored  to  find  out  what 
course  he  had  determined  on.  He  will  agree  with  me  that  this  is  a  diffi- 
cult job  where  the  individual  has  not  made  up  his  own  mind. 

But  the  individual  liacl  made  up  his  mind,  and,  even  at  the  time 
of  Lee's  visit  to  the  surgeon-general,  "General  Order  No.  2"  was 
on  its  way  to  Beaumont.  In  spite  of  all  his  remonstrances  and 
•entreaties,  the  inevitable  crisis  came,  and  his  career  as  an  army 
officer  was  ended. 

Adj.  General's  Office. 
Washixgto^t,  Jany.  20th,  1840. 
The  resignation  of  Surgeon  Wm.  Beaumont  has  been  accepted  by  the 
President,  to  take  effect  on  the  31st  of  December,  1839. 
By  order  of  Major  General  Macomb. 

R.  Jo>"ES,  Adjt.  Genl. 

Though  his  resignation  was  accepted,  and  he  had  not  been 
peremptorily  dropped  from  the  rolls,  he  still  determined  to  fight 
to  the  bitter  end.  AAliile  he  had  stated  to  Major  Hitchcock  that  it 
was  a  matter  of  "perfect  indifference"  to  him  whether  he  remained 
in  the  army  or  not.  he  afterward  explained  that  Avhen  the  accept- 
ance of  his  resignation  finally  came,  his  "pride  and  indignation'' 


258  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

were  aroused  to  such  an  extent  that  he  could  not  yield  without 
making  a  strong  fight  for  reinstatement. 

He  wrote  Senator  Lewis  F.  Linn,  of  Missouri,  who  had  been 
a  fellow-surgeon : 

.  .  .  I  have  respectfully  and  earnestly  to  request  you,  as  guardian 
of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  people  of  this  state,  and  of  myself 
among  the  rest,  to  defer,  if  in  your  power,  any  official  action  of  the  Senate 
upon  the  nomination  of  a  successor  to  the  vacancy  I  may  have  occasioned 
till  I  have  had  an  opportunity  to  communicate  my  reasons  for  petitioning 
to  be  restored  to  my  commission  and  place  again  as  before. 

I  take  the  liberty  of  making  this  hasty  communication  and  request 
(having  this  day  unexpectedly  received  the  order  of  acceptance),  lest  the 
name  of  my  successor  be  sent  to  the  Senate  for  confirmation  before  I 
have  time  to  lay  my  case  before  the  president  for  consideration,  confi- 
dently believing  myself  fully  justified  in  so  doing,  and  that  you  will 
rightly  appreciate  and  promptly  attend  to  it.     .     .     . 

His  next  step  was  to  memorialize  President  Van  Buren.  and  the 
memorial  was  presented  b}'  Senators  AVright  and  Linn : 

To  His  Excellency.  Martin  Tan  Buren,  President  of  the  United  States. 

The  undersigned  memorialist,  Wm.  Beaumont,  recent  Surgeon  of  the 
U.  S.  Army,  in  the  56th  year  of  his  age  and  the  24th  year  of  faithful  duties 
to  government,  now  finding  himself  unjustly  thrust  from  the  public  service, 
most  earnestly  and  respectfully  petitions  your  excellency  to  be  again  re- 
stored to  his  late  official  rank,  commission  and  place  for  the  following 
reasons  and  considerations,  to  wit : 

Your  memorialist  having  been  in  the  Army,  with  the  exception  of  a 
short  voluntary  suspension  from  1815  to  1819,  and  in  almost  continual 
performance  of  important  duties  on  the  exposed  and  comfortless  confines 
of  our  country  from  1812  to  1840,  serving  through  the  campaigns  of  1812, 
13  and  14  on  the  northern  and  western  frontier  during  the  late  war  with 
England,  assigned  to  the  extreme  outposts  and  stationed  at  Fort  Macki- 
nac, Howard  and  Crawford  from  1819  to  1832,  doing  the  duties  of  these 
several  posts,  with  their  respective  complements  of  troops,  without  assist- 
ance for  12  years  or  more,  with  the  various  additional  duties,  fatigues  and 
exposures  of  the  several  predatory  Indian  warfares  with  the  Winnebagoes 
and  other  hostile  tribes  from  1827  to  1832.  and  only  relieved  from  those 
active  field  and  garrison  duties  at  the  termination  of  the  Black  Hawk  War, 
so  called,  in  Aug.,  1832. 

After  this,  for  a  few  months,  your  memorialist  was  permitted  by  the 
Department  merely  to  anticipate,  but  not  to  realize.  "Leave  of  Absence" 
and  suspension  from  official  duties  for  12  months  for  the  special  purpose 
of  going  to  Europe,  with  a  view  more  perfectly  to  complete  a  series  of 
gastric  experiments  and  observations  upon  the  stomach  of  Alexis  St. 
Martin,  whose  life  and  extraordinary  constitution  had  been  preserved  by 
your  memorialist's  individual  exertions,  and  which  was  then  considered 


1835-1840 — Memorializes  President  Van  Buren  259 

by  the  Heads  of  Department,  members  of  Congress  and  the  scientific  com- 
munities in  general  of  paramount  importance  to  mankind,  and  worthy  of 
public  patronage  and  physiological  improvement. 

Before,  however,  one-flfth  part  of  the  time  necessary  to  accomplish 
this  desirable  object  had  elapsed,  and  in  the  midst  of  its  execution,  an 
emergency  of  service  required  your  memorialist's  return  to  official  duty, 
and  he  was  put  on  special  service  in  March,  1834.  In  June  following  he 
was  sent  to  Jefferson  Barracks  to  relieve  a  sickly,  suffering  surgeon  at 
that  post,  where  he  remained  on  duty  till  Nov.  or  Dec,  1834.  Early  in 
1835  your  memorialist  was  assigned  by  special  order  to  this  place  for  the 
special  purpose,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  official  duties  of  the  station, 
of  affording  him  an  opportunity  for  prosecuting  further  experiments  and 
observations  upon  the  gastric  juice  of  St.  Martin,  without  prejudicially 
affecting  or  interfering  with  details  and  duties  of  the  Medical  Department. 

And  your  memorialist  has  been  on  constant  official  duties,  rendering 
the  necessary  medical  aid  and  attention  to  7  or  10  resident  officers  and 
their  numerous  families  of  women  and  children,  sojourning  military  men, 
members  of  martial  courts  and  inquiries,  to  the  command  at  St.  Louis 
Arsenal,  the  recruiting  parties  at  this  rendezvous,  examining  recruits, 
purveying  medical  supplies  for  the  western  posts,  making  returns,  reports, 
etc.,  from  .June,  183.5,  to  the  present  time,  duties  more  constant  and  mul- 
tiferous  than  [those  of]  any  other  officer  in  the  army.  And  to  this  place 
and  to  these  duties  was  your  memorialist  specially  assigned  by  the  late 
Surgeon-General  Lovell  and  AVar  Secretary  Cass,  with  the  express  under- 
standing and  expectation  that  it  v\'as  to  be  as  permanently  enjoyed  as 
other  of  the  senior  medical  officers  had  been  and  are  still  privileged  to 
enjoy  their  respective  favorite  stations,  as  merited  rewards  of  long  and 
faithful  service,  and  a  rule  and  precedent  of  justice  and  equity  adopted  in 
the  spirit  of  magnanimity  by  those  Heads  of  Departments,  and  long  since 
become  the  established  usage  of  service.  Instanced,  Surgeon  Mower  has 
been  thus  indulged  in  a  permanent  location  at  New  York  for  more  than 
20  years  continuously;  Surgeon  Harvey  at  Baton  Rouge  since  the  close 
of  the  war  in  1815;  Ast.  Surgeon  Sargent  at  Fort  Constitution  from  time 
immemorial;  Turner  long  lived  and  died  unmolested  at  Fort  Woolcot; 
Day  permitted  to  enjoy  any  place  he  may  choose  for  its  light  duties  and 
pleasant  location;  Archie  completely  domesticated  at  Fortress  Monroe; 
King  fixed  at  the  Capital  at  Washington;  and  Weightman  forever  at  St. 
Augustine.  All  this  is  just  and  proper,  and  but  merited  indulgence  gener- 
ously awarded  to  age,  professional  worth  and  official  faithfulness  and 
integrity. 

Your  memorialist  is  no  less  fully  entitled  and  deserving  of  similar  and 
equally  continued  indulgence.  He  was  assigned  to  this  station  and  to 
these  duties  by  the  same  rule  and  upon  the  same  principles.  He  is  not 
conscious  of  having  in  any  way  forfeited  his  claim  to  this  preference.  He 
knows  no  reason  why  he  should  be  deprived  of  it  now,  conceives  no  justifi- 
able cause,  nor  believes  an  adequate  emergency  to  warrant  the  order  for 
his  removal. 


260  Life  and  Letters  of  Dy.  William  Beaiunont 

Great  injustice,  therefore,  having  been  done  your  memorialist  by  Gen- 
eral Order  No.  48  of  Sept.  18,  1839,  peremptorily  requiring  him  to  repair 
to  Florida  for  duty,  and  the  consequent  acceptance  by  yr.  Excellency  of 
his  constrained  resignation,  only  to  obviate  the  difficulties  of  declining  an 
order  the  requirements  of  which  I  could  not  perform  from  my  well-known 
infirmity  and  defect.'''  And  your  memorialist,  believing  a  second  order 
to  have  been  issued  in  consequence  of  some  erroneous  impression  or 
wrong  influence  to  his  official  prejudice  and  personal  injury,  now  con- 
ceiving it  due  to  himself,  just  to  the  government,  respectful  to  the  De- 
partment, and  consistent  with  the  principles  of  subordinates  to  make  this 
appeal  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  for  proper  redress  of  the 
alleged  grievance,  confidently  relying  upon  his  Excellency's  well-known 
principles  of  justice,  liberality  and  patriotism  for  restoration  of  his  right 
to  the  official  rank,  place  and  appointment  from  which  the  unexpected 
acceptance  of  his  resignation  has  taken  him. 

Soon  after  this  (April  3,  1840),  and  in  the  same  connection,  he 
wrote  his  friend,  Major  Hitchcock : 

.  .  .  I  cared  but  little,  you  know,  how  they  decided  at  first.  But  on 
the  receipt  of  the  order  of  acceptance  my  pride.  Spirit  and  indignation 
were  excited  at  such  gross  and  egregious  injustice  towards  me,  and  I  re- 
solved to  resist  the  influence  that  had  induced  it,  and,  of  course,  memo- 
rialized the  President  to  be  restored  and  continued  at  this  place. 

I  submitted  it  through  Senator  Silas  Wright  and  Dr.  Linn,  with  my 
reasons  and  explanations.  I  have  not  heard  from  them  since.  I  know 
not  how  promptly  they  will  give  their  attention  to  the  subject.  It  was 
my  intention  to  have  gone  on  and  attended  to  it  myself,  but  I  cannot  get 
away;  and,  if  I  could,  I  am  such  a  poor  hand  at  managing  such  things, 
I  had  rather  trust  it  with  you  and  my  other  friends  there,  and  I  rely 
much  on  your  friendly  interest  and  influence  in  urging  the  case  forward. 
.     .     .     Do  all  you  can  for  me  and  not  injure  yourself. 

He  had  also  written  Captain  Robert  E.  Lee  to  use  his  influence. 
in  response  to  which  Lee  wrote  from  Washington  on  ]\Iay  19,  1810 : 

I  am  afraid  you  will  think  that  I  have  neglected  your  letter  in  relation 
to  your  application  to  the  President  to  be  restored  to  your  rank  and  place 
in  the  Army.  An  hundred  times  have  I  determined  to  write  to  you,  but 
as  often,  when  on  the  point  of  executing,  have  I  delayed  from  day  to  day 
in  the  hope  of  learning  something  satisfactory.  If  Mr.  Wright  has  ever 
presented  your  Memorial  to  the  President,  it  has  never  reached,  as  far  as 
I  can  learn,  the  War  Dept.  Should  it  be  so  referred,  it  would  naturally 
be  sent  to  the  Surgeon  General  for  a  report,  and,  as  well  as  I  can  ascer- 
tain his  sentiments  by  indirect  approaches,  he  will  not  recommend  your 
reinstatement,    and    I    think    I   may    say   will   oppose    it.     He    appears   to 


^"Refers,  no  doubt,  to  his  defective  hearing. 


1835-1840 — Letter  from  Eohert  E.  Lee  261 

have  some  feeling  on  the  subject,  the  cause  of  which  I  do  not  know. 
Supposing  your  application  would  come  before  the  Adj.  Gen.,  I  had  taken 
occasion  to  impress  him  with  your  usefulness,  skill,  attention,  etc.,  and 
the  loss  that  the  service  would  sustain,  particularly  in  the  West,  by  your 
withdrawal.  I  spoke  to  Cooper  in  the  same  manner,  without  telling  them 
your  present  views,  as  they  might  have  thought  my  object  was  to  in- 
fluence their  action,  and  they  both  coincided  with  me  in  regretting  your 
loss,  as  did  also  Dr.  King,  but  I  am  almost  certain  that  the  subject  has 
not  been  broached  to  them,  unless  it  has  been  within  a  few  days.  I  do 
not  know  Mr.  Wright,  and  I  have  disliked  to  call  on  him  purposely  on  the 
subject,  as  he  might  have  thought  I  was  interfering  in  what  did  not  con- 
cern me.  I  have,  however,  thrown  myself  in  his  way,  without  success, 
in  the  hope  of  learning  what  he  considered  the  prospect  of  a  favorable 
decision.  He  is  so  engrossed  in  politics  and  in  the  affairs  of  Congress 
that  I  suppose  he  cannot  find  time  to  withdraw  himself  from  them.  At 
any  rate,  I  have  never  been  able  to  meet  him.  I  showed  your  letter  to 
Col.  Totten,  who  showed  every  desire  to  aid  you,  and  promised  to  let 
me  know  what  he  could  discover,  but  he  has  not  been  more  successful 
than  myself.  When  Major  Hitchcock  passed  through  we  had  a  long  con- 
sultation on  the  subject,  and  he  made  a  special  visit  to  the  office  of  the 
Surgeon  General,  which  he  said  convinced  him  that  nothing  could  be  done 
in  that  quarter.  Now,  has  Mr.  Wright  presented  your  memorial  to  the 
President,  and  what  does  he  say  of  the  probabilities  of  its  success?  For 
your  reinstatement  in  the  Army  I  should  personally  take  great  pleasure, 
and  I  believe  it  would  conduce  to  the  interest  of  the  service  generally. 
I  should  be  particularly  glad  to  be  instrumental  in  it,  but  in  the  present 
circumstances  I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  proceed  without  showing  an  ob- 
trusive interference,  which  I  have  always  seen  produce  injury  in  similar 
cases.  You  must  let  me  know  how  far  matters  have  progressed,  and 
whether  there  is  anything  so  small  a  man  as  myself  can  do  to  shove  them 
along. 

Surgeon  DeCamp,  then  stationed  at  the  barracks,  about  twelve 
miles  south  of  the  city,  had  received  orders  to  perform  the  official 
medical  duties  at  St.  Louis  and  the  arsenal,  and  expressed  his 
readiness  and  willingness  to  do  so  when  called  upon.  There  seemed, 
however,  to  be  a  general  understanding  between  him,  Dr.  Beaumont, 
and  the  officers  stationed  at  St.  Louis  that  it  was  impracticable  for 
him  to  perform  these  duties  at  such  a  great  distance,  especially  in 
cases  of  emergency,  since  "death  or  remediless  suffering  might 
ensue"  before  relief  could  be  obtained.  AA'ith  this  understanding, 
Dr.  Beaumont  continued  to  render  medical  services  to  the  families 
of  the  officers  at  St.  Louis  and  the  arsenal  until  the  fall  of  1840, 
''with  the  full,  fair,  and  honest  conviction  and  belief  that  he  Avas 
doing  in  strict  accordance  with  the  rules  of  propriety,  humanity 


262  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  AyiUiam  Beaumont 

and  justice  a  necessary  and  essential  public  good."  After  the  ex- 
piration of  a  reasonable  time  he  presented  to  the  department  for 
this  extra  service  an  account  which  he  conceded  to  be  "irregular 
and  informal, ' '  but  at  the  same  time  ' '  correct  and  just. ' '  Evidently 
on  the  receipt  of  this  account  the  surgeon-general  threatened  one 
of  two  procedures — either  he  would  disregard  the  account  entirely, 
or,  paying  it,  would  deduct  the  sum  from  the  salary  of  Dr.  DeCamp. 
On  hearing  these  rumors,  Dr.  Beaumont  expressed  himself  in  the 
most  caustic  style  concerning  "the  absurd  opinion,  contracted 
views,  narrow-minded,  vindictive  spirit  and  petty  tyrannical  dis- 
position" of  the  "weak,  waspish  and  willful  head  of  the  ^Medical 
Department,"  and  prided  himself  on  having  the  "privilege  of 
detesting  the  man.  the  motives  and  mind  from  which  such  egregious 
folly,  parsimony  and  injustice  could  emanate  and  be  promulgated." 
In  order  to  protect  Surgeon  DeCamp  "from  such  preposterous 
abuse  and  injustice  and  petty  pawn,"  and  himself  "froiii  the 
stigma  of  being  made  the  means  and  medium  of  such  wanton  and 
unAvarranted  oppression  and  injustice,"  he  gave  Dr.  DeCamp  a 
v.-ritten  statement  of  the  case  : 

.  .  .  The  least  consideration  might  have  shown  Dr.  Lawson,  if  his 
capacity  was  not  at  zero,  that  it  was  utterly  impracticable  for  you  or  any 
medical  officer  to  render  at  the  Arsenal  and  in  this  city  the  services  due 
to  the  sick  of  the  Army  while  you  were  stationed  at  Jefferson  Barracks, 
10  miles  distant,  and  the  result  has  fully  demonstrated  the  folly  and  ab- 
surdity of  his  ridiculous  order.  To  guard  against  the  effect  of  that  folly, 
which  might  rather  be  called  wickedness  as  endangering  the  sick  for 
whose  attention  it  was  his  duty  to  provide,  I  have  given  my  own  attention, 
and,  having  thus  acquired  a  just  claim  for  compensation,  the  Surgeon 
General,  it  appears,  in  a  spirit  every  way  becoming  him,  but  disgraceful 
to  the  head  of  the  Corps  over  which  he  presides,  has  come  to  the  determi- 
nation to  charge  you  with  the  amount  rather  than  allow  it  to  me.  But  he 
can  upon  no  principle  whatever  charge  the  amount  to  you,  yet,  if  he 
should  so  far  exert  himself  in  an  act  of  tyranny  as  to  produce  a  stoppage 
upon  you,  I  will  readily  withdraw  all  claims  from  adjudication  at  the  head 
of  the  Department  and  will  look  to  a  higher  officer,  where  I  may  hope  to 
find  more  intelligence,  more  humanity,  more  liberality  and  a  better  sense 
of  justice.     .     .     . 

Congratulating  myself  upon  having  escaped  service  under  the  present 
Chief  of  the  Medical  Dept.,  I  sincerely  commiserate  my  associates  in  the 
Army  who  remain  subject  to  his  caprice  and  tyranny,  the  natural  fruits 
of  ignorance  and  vanity. 

The  final  decision  on  this  point  was  summed  up  in  the  following 


1835-1840— Military  Career  Ended  263 

oonununication  from  the  secretary  of  war  through  the  surgeon- 
general's  office  (November  4,  1840)  : 

.  .  .  In  respect  to  the  case  of  Dr.  Beaumont,  he  has  had  no  authority- 
whatever  for  rendering  service  to  any  one  in  behalf  of  the  U.  S.  after  he 
received  notice  that  his  resignation  had  been  accepted,  nor  had  he  any 
proper  excuse  for  doing  so.  His  connection  with  the  government  then 
entirely  ceased,  and  he  should  promptly  have  turned  over  to  the  officer  of 
the  Medical  Department,  who  was  there  and  who  was  ordered  and  ready 
to  perform  the  duties,  all  the  public  property,  etc.,  in  his  hands.  For 
compensation  for  services  rendered  to  any  one  in  public  employ  after  that 
period  he  must  look  to  the  individual  and  not  to  the  government.     .     .     . 

This  put  an  end  to  any  further  efi'orts  on  the  Doctor's  part  to 
be  reinstated,  and  thus  was  terminated  his  brilliant  military  career 
of  more  than  twenty-five  years.  It  seems  sad  indeed  that  his 
services  should  have  been  so  abruptly  and  unsatisfactorily  brought 
to  a  close,  for  his  achievement  had  brought  credit,  not  only  to 
himself,  but  to  the  army  as  ^vell.  Even  today  his  brilliant  work 
is  pointed  to  Avith  pride  by  the  officers  of  the  medical  corps  of  the 
army.-° 


-"  Surgeon-General  Torney,  in  a  recent  address  before  the  Philadelphia  Medi- 
cal Club,  cited  this  as  the  first  great  scientific  achievement  of  a  member  of  the 
medical  staff. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

1840-1853. 

While  greatly  dejected  over  the  results  of  his  affair  with  the 
War  Eepartinent.  Beaiiniont  did  not  permit  himself  to  take  his 
-dismissal  from  the  army  too  seriously.  He  still  had  a  lucrative 
practice,  a  host  of  devoted  friends,  an  undying  name,  and,  above 
all,  a  devoted  and  affectionate  family.  Up  to  this  time  he  had 
resided  with  his  family  in  the  city,  occupying  a  house  at  Fourth 
street  and  Clark  avenue,  with  an  entire  block  as  a  playground  for 
his  children,  who  learned  here  to  ride  horseback  and  engage  in 
various  other  outdoor  sports.  Shortly  before  his  resignation  was 
accepted  he  began  negotiating  for  a  piece  of  property,  then  Avell 
into  the  country,  but  now  in  the  very  heart  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis. 
The  beautiful  simplicity  of  his  home  in  the  country  could  not  be 
better  described  than  he  himself  has  painted  it  in  some  of  his 
affectionate  communications  to  Ethan  Allen  Hitchcock.  While  his 
fate  as  an  army  officer  was  still  in  the  ])al;nice.  he  wrote: 

Whether  I  remain  a  Soldier  or  turn  Citizen,  and  in  anticipation  of  an 
acceptance  of  my  tender,  I  have  purchased  the  Gamble  Place,  ayont  the 
College  one  mile,  where  I  am  going  to  reside  and  improve.  We  have  just 
moved  out,  and  not  yet  settled.  The  family  are  delighted  with  their  pros- 
pects and  perfectly  happy.  The  children  are  looking  for  Frances  Lyndei 
every  Boat  now,  to  join  and  instruct  them.  The  water  has  been  so  low 
that  boats  could  not  navigate  the  Ohio,  and  many  have  been  stuck  on 
Sandbars,  filled  with  passengers,  for  a  month  or  two  past,  amongst 
w^hom,  we  suppose,  Miss  Lynde  is.  as  she  wrote  that  she  could  start  in 
October,  and  we  have  heard  nothing  from  her  since.  I  hope  she  will  not 
disappoint  us,  for  we  are  all  prepared  to  receive  her,  and  the  children 
emulous  to  commence  receiving  instructions  from  her.  We  quit  the  old 
Clark  mansion  with  alacrity  4  days  ago,  turned  over  the  house  and  all  the 
inmates  to  a  new  keeper,  and  left  the  Sykeses  the  reigning  gossips  of  the 
Table.     I  continue  to  practice  as  usual,  only  getting  rid  of  the  night  calls. 


1^  Frances  Lynde  afterward  mauled  Hon.  George  AV.  Palmer,  of  Plattsburgh. 
N.  Y.,  still  living-  at  the  age  of  94  years.  Miss  Helen  Palmer,  their  daughter, 
informs  me  that  her  mother  was  born  at  Plattsburgh  in  1819.  and  received  her 
education  at  Mrs.  Emma  Wlllard"s  school  in  Troy.  After  graduating  there,  she 
taught  a  year  or  more  in  Kentucky,  and  then  went  to  Dr.  Beaumont's  family, 
where  she  remained  for  some  time.  "I  know  that  she  was  extremely  happy 
there,  and  was  very  fond  of  Dr.  Beaumont,  of  Mrs.  Beaumont.  Aunt  Debby.  and 
of  the  girls.  There  must  have  been  a  very  pleasant  circle  gathered  about  the 
Beaumont  home.  My  mother  spoke  frequently  of  the  Lees,  the  distinguished 
army  family,  and  of  General  Hitchcock,  and  otheis  whose  names  I  have  for- 
gotten." 

264 


1840-1853 — Pio-chases  a  Country    Place  265 

putting  them  upon  Sykes.  I  ride  in  early  every  morning  and  out  at  even- 
ing, always  finding  the  family  happy  and  delighted  to  see  me.  Lucrece 
jumps  round  my  neck,  Bud  grasps  my  hips,  and  Sarah  gravely  ushers  me 
into  the  room,  where  I  find  "Aunt  Debby"  cheerful  and  smiling  as  a  basket 
of  roses.  I  wish  you  could  pop  in  amongst  us  as  you  used  to  do,  and  en- 
joy with  us  a  little  rural  felicity. 

Sarah  seems  perfectly  contented  and  joyful  with  her  Piano,  her  needle, 
her  books,  and  her  Pony.  Free  air  and  exercise,  undesirous  of  the  city 
amusements,  Lucrece  and  Bud  ramble  and  gambol,  ride,  romp  and  range 
through  fields  and  bushes  like  two  young  colts  let  loose  from  the  stalls. 
Cush  says  she  "dont  never  want  to  go  to  town  again,"  but  would  like  to 
have  you  here  to  play  with  her. 

A  little  later,  when  the  acceptance  of  his  resignation  came  and 
he  began  to  realize  its  full  import,  he  wrote  his  friend  to  whom  he 

went  with  all  his  joys  and  sorrows : 

Even  the  whole  family  participate  in  the  dejecting  influence,  and  often 
feel  melancholy,  though  very  pleasantly  situated  out  at  my  place,  enjoying 
many  comforts;  with  our  charming  friend.  Miss  Lynde,  to  instruct  the 
children,  Mr.  Siedin  Strieker  to  teach  them  Music  and  German,  Mrs. 
Beaumont  to  nurture  and  caress  them,  myself  to  scold  and  admonish  them; 
a  choice  few  friendly  visitors  occasionally  from  the  city  to  enjoy  our  cheer; 
plenty  of  room  to  ramble  and  ride,  swing,  frolick  and  gambol;  indeed,  few 
things  only  seem  wanting  to  make  it  a  paradise,  and  could  you  just  drop 
in  amongst  us  of  a  morning  and  evening,  with  your  flute  and  friendly  fea- 
tures, as  you  were  wont  to  do,  our  enjoyments  would  be  complete.  .  .  . 
The  tones  of  the  piano  seldom  strike  my  ears,  and  then  sound  more  like  a 
death  dirge  than  the  soul  stirring  symphonies  so  often  heard  before  you 
left.  No  soft  sounds  of  the  flute  break  the  dull,  silent  monotony,  and  en- 
liven the  spirits  of  the  little  group  that  gather  round  the  hearth  at  even- 
ing now.  We  all  feel  your  absence  most  sensibly,  and  none  more  so  than 
Lucretia,  though  she  says  nothing.  Sarah  says  she  has  not  sufficient  in- 
centive to  finger  the  keys  of  her  piano;  much  she  wants  the  flute  to  excite 
and  enliven  her  genius.  Bud  looks  at  his  Penknives  and  pantaloons,  and 
sighs  his  regretts.  Aunt  Debby  looks  lonely,  and  rocks  herself  "quite  fast 
to  sleep."  Your  humble  servant  feels  like  a  "fast-day  in  court,"  the  rest 
of  the  household  feel  for  themselves — I  cant  tell  how.  Lee  is  with  us, 
kind  and  affectionate. 

During  the  early  months  of  1846  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hitchcock 
was  compelled  to  leave  his  regiment  on  the  ^Mexican  frontier  on  ac- 
count of  a  protracted  illness,  for  the  treatment  of  which  he  was 
under  Dr.  Beaumont's  care.  He  was  about  to  return  to  his  com- 
mand in  June,  when  his  friend  and  medical  acUnser  urged  him  to 
ask  the  department  for  a  continuance  of  his  sick  leave.     His  judg- 


266 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^yiUiam  Beaumont 


1840-1853— Letter  to  Ethan  Allen  Hitchcock  267 

ment  prevailed  in  the  matter,  and  the  Colonel  spent  at  least  a 
portion  of  the  summer  at  the  Beaumont  home.  The  loving  affection 
in  which  he  held  the  Beaumonts  is  evidenced  by  a  note  in  his 
diary  r 

Tuesday,  12  P.  M.,  the  17th  Nov.,  1846.  Probably  the  last  night  I  shall 
pass  at  Dr.  Beaumont's  house,  for  I  have  taken  passage  on  the  Algoma 
for  New  Orleans  and  the  Army  in  Mexico,  and  am  to  start  tomorrow  morn- 
ing. If  I  were  to  thank  God  for  anything,  it  would  be  for  the  friendship 
of  this  family,  for  its  unlimited  kindness  and  confidence — not  for  a  brief 
period,  but  for  many  years — and  for  the  feeling  that  I  have  endeavored  to 
deserve  it. 

A  few  months  after  Colonel  Hitchcock  had  returned  to  his  regi- 
ment and  was  again  in  the  midst  of  the  Mexican  War,  the  Doctor 
wrote  him  (April  26,  1847)  : 

Your  more  than  thrice  welcome  and  highly  esteemed  favor  of  the  1st 
inst.  has  just  been  received,  and  perused  and  reperused  by  us  all,  with 
emotions  of  fervent  delight  and  heartfelt  gratitude  and  thankfulness  to 
God  for  your  preservation  through  the  scenes  of  danger  which  you  have 
just  passed. 

Honor  and  glory  to  the  American  Army,  to  science  and  to  humanity! 
How  gratified  and  proud  you  must  have  all  felt  at  the  unexpected  and 
unparalleled  success  of  such  a  formidable  and  dangerous  undertaking! 

You  are,  I  suppose,  wending  your  way  toward  the  "Halls  of  the  Monte- 
sumas,"  and  threading  with  your  Columns  the  same  Mountain  passes 
through  which  Cortes  led  his  little  Spartan  band  300  years  ago?  What 
will  be  the  result  of  this  Mexican  Expedition?  Shall  we  not  have  to  make 
conquest  of  all  Mexico,  whip  the  whole  8,000,000  of  people  into  uncon- 
ditional submission,  and  take  their  country  under  the  protection  and  gov- 
ernment of  the  U.  States?  I  am  more  and  more  inclined  to  think  we 
shall  from  recent  events  and  pending  aspects. 

The  World  seems  En-ciente  with  wonders  and  the  accouehment  near  at 
hand,  if  not  past  ere  this  reaches  you.  The  Battle  of  Bonavista,  the  Cap- 
ture of  Vera  Cruse,  the  success  of  Genl.  in  Celeforme  and  Col.  

would  seem  the  effects  of  the  last  parturient  throes.  The  taking  of  the 
City  of  Mexico  and  San  Louis  Potose  may  complete  the  litter  for  this 
time.  I  hope,  however,  she  may  happily  survive  the  mighty  birth,  and 
soon  recover  from  her  disturbed  condition,  and  that  her  accoucheur  Gen- 
erals, Inspectors,  aids  and  assistants  may  all  be  satisfactorily  rewarded 
for  their  great  skill,  science  and  adroit  management  in  the  delivery.    .    .    . 

Though  Beaumont  was  not  a  musician,  he  was  exceedingly  fond 
of  music,  as  stated  in  his  letters  to  his  friend,  who  played  the  flute 


-  Diarv  of  Major-General  Kthan  Allen  Hitchcock.   "Fiftv  Years   in  Camp  and 
Field,"   1909. 


268  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiaiii  Beaumont 

beautifully.  During  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  however,  his  hear- 
ing became  so  impaired  that  he  -was  unable  to  hear  the  ordinary 
tones  of  the  piano.  When  his  daughter  played,  he  would  sit  with 
his  teeth  firmly  fixed  upon  the  easing  of  the  piano,  and  thus  listen 
to  her  by  the  hour  by  bone  conduction,  lie  was  very  fond  of 
dancing,  and,  though  he  could  not  hear  the  music,  could  keep  step 
perfectly.  This  was  practically  the  only  frivolous  amusement  in 
which  he  indulged,  being  opposed  to  most  other  forms,  both  for 
himself  and  his  family.  He  never  even  entered  a  theater,  nor  per- 
mitted any  of  his  children  to  do  so. 

He  seldom  expressed  himself  on  the  subject  of  religion,  but  I 
find  in  a  letter  to  his  sister  Lucretia  his  views  on  the  subject  defi- 
nitely stated  in  a  few  sentences  : 

.  .  .  Be  assured,  my  dear  sister  Lucretia,  that  your  affectionate  sug- 
gestions and  pious  admonitions  to  us  were  very  kindly  received  and  sin- 
cerely appreciated.  Though  I  am  not  a  professor,  or  even  convert  to  any 
particular  religious  sect,  yet  I  am  a  strict  believer  in  the  great  good  effects 
of  moral  and  virtuous  examples.  Our  own  present  and  the  future  happi- 
ness of  our  dear  children  render  the  right  constitution  of  their  tender 
minds  an  object  of  our  special  and  peculiar  care  and  attention.  To  bring 
them  up  in  the  fear,  love,  and  admonition  of  the  Lord,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  virtue,  morality,  and  religion,  as  far  as  is  in  our  power,  is  our 
sincere  determination. 

In  his  family  relations  he  Avas  always  gentle  and  kind,  yet  de- 
termined Avhen  a  principle  was  at  stake,  and,  when  necessary,  he 
did  not  hesitate  to  use  the  ''rattles.''  His  friend.  Captain  Kings- 
bury, knowing  of  his  hal)its  in  this  connection,  wrote  him  on  one 
occasion : 

I  find  daily  'tis  one  thing  to  talk  of  raising  children  and  another  to  do 
it;  like  you.  I  use  the  rattles,  but,  if  I  used  them  as  often  as  required, 
our  house  would  be  like  a  den  of  rattle  snakes. 

Buddy  (Israel  Green  Beaumont),  no  doubt,  came  in  for  his  fiill 
share  of  the  rattles,  for  his  father  had  him  constantly  under  disci- 
pline. It  was  about  this  time  that  he  sent  Buddy  to  Hermann,  ^lo., 
to  Mr.  ]\Ioeller's  school,  to  learn  langtuige.  literature,  and  science, 
reserving  for  himself,  however,  the  privilege  of  giving  instructions 
as  to  money  and  morals.  At  Christmas  time  he  sent  him  the 
following  good  advice : 

A  Merry  Christmas  to  my  son.  I  am  gratified  to  hear  and  believe  you 
are  content  and  happy  at  your  school,  for  you  show  evidence  of  such  an 


1840-1853— Advice  to  His  Son  269 

improvement  in  your  studies  by  the  style  and  language  of  your  letters. 
Hope  you  have  or  soon  will  be  able  to  fulfill  your  intention  of  abstracting 
your  mind  from  boyish  indulgencies  of  useless  or  idle  amusement  and  in- 
clinations, and  turn  your  devoted,  undivided  attention,  thoughts  and  ac- 
tions to  the  acquisition  of  useful  manly  knowledge,  system,  order  and  ar- 
rangement, and  philosophical  understanding  of  language,  literature  and 
science  in  the  shortest  practicable  time  compatible  with  the  preservation 
of  your  health. 

I  doubt  not  you  will  have  carried  these  resolutions  into  effect  by 
strictly  disciplining  your  thoughts  to  subjection,  order  and  regularity.  I 
know  time  is  necessary  to  accomplish  all  these  efforts.  Therefore  lose 
none  in  puerile  indulgencies  or  idleness,  love  nothing  better  than  your 
works  and  studies;  most  desire  true  knowledge,  sound  wisdom  and  un- 
derstanding. Repudiate  frolic,  fiction  and  folly.  Shun  frivolous  gossiping 
associates.  ■  Make  your  own  thoughts  the  most  agreeable  companions  of 
your  pupilage.  Finally,  my  son,  perfect  yourself  in  manliness;  be  a  sample 
of  God's  noblest  work,  a  statesman  and  patriot,  well  learned  and  just,  a 
good  man  and  true. 

Your  mother  tells  me  you  express  a  wish,  not  exactly  a  need,  of  more 
contingent  money.  Have  you  expended  the  ten  or  twenty  dollars  you  took 
with  you  when  you  went  up,  already?  You  should  make  accurate  and 
quarterly  reports  of  all  expenditures.  It  is  proper  that  you  should  do  so. 
I  expect  it  of  you.  I  shall  not  withhold  from  or  deprive  you  of  anything 
reasonable  or  necessary  for  the  comfort  and  development  of  facilities  for 
your  legitimate  work,  but  you  must  make  regular  reports  of  the  ex- 
penditures of  money  intrusted  in  your  care  before  I  can  be  justified  in 
advancing  you  more,  lest  I  should  do  you  an  injustice  by  too  free  indul- 
gencies, and  thereby  increase  and  encourage  you  to  neglect  your  studies, 
and  misspend  your  time  and  money  for  more  attractive  and  less  com- 
mendable purposes.     .     .     . 

Remember,  time  rightly  spent  is  better  than  money,  and  money  fool- 
ishly spent  is  wanton  waste  of  both  and  the  destruction  of  useful  talents. 
You  must  not  forget  the  all  important  advantages  of  rightly  improving 
your  time  and  opportunities  of  acquiring  useful  knowledge,  wisdom  and 
virtue.  Constantly  endeavor  to  keep  in  view  the  astonishing  progress  of 
modern  improvements  in  the  arts,  sciences  and  civilization. 

Remember,  now  is  your  time  to  qualify  yourself  for  future  usefulness, 
moral  distinction  and  gentlemanly  eminence.  Reflect  materially  upon  the 
probable  callings  and  anticipations  of  your  future  career  of  life,  and  so 
shape  your  course  as  to  ensure  the  fairest  prospects  and  happiest  retro- 
spect. Let  not  procrastination,  that  old  insidious  thief,  rob  you  of  the 
most  precious  time  of  life,  as  he  has  your  Father. 

On  various  occasions  he  also  admonished  his  son  in  the  following 
manner: 

Buddy,  leave  the  girls  alone,  and  let  them  quiet  be.  Make  your  manly 
visit  out,  and  then  return  to  me.     ...     Discard  the  bewitching  visions 


270  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  BeaiDnont 

and  flickering  thoughts  of  passionate  love  and  Hymenial  blisses — during 
your  professional  pupilage  at  least.  Relinquish  all  undue  pretention  to 
Gallantry  and  obsequious  attention  to  the  Girls,  Graces  or  the  muses. 
Consign  them  all  to  the  entertainment  and  embraces  of  fops  and  fools. 
Respect  the  amiable  and  virtuous.  Be  courteous  and  kind;  treat  them 
with  cordiality  and  politeness,  with  becoming  attention  and  sociability; 
but  keep  clean  of  their  amiable  wiles  or  siren  influences!  .  .  .  Affiance 
your  mind  only  to  Books,  business  and  professional  studies  and  pur- 
suit till  you  are  a  score  and  V,  or  X,  or  more,  and  then  be  cool  and  coy, 
as  behooves  a  Man,  but  not  a  Boy.     .     .     . 

A  few  years  later  l^iiddy  was  sent  to  Green  Bay  for  the  double 
purpose  of  studying  law  and  looking  after  his  father's  property 
interests  there,  which  were  now  considerable.  He  owned,  for 
instance,  the  "AVashington  House,"  the  "Devil  River  Point  Lot," 
and  other  properties,  and  his  letters  were  full  of  good,  sound  busi- 
ness advice  concerning  them. 

In  October,  1846,  Dr.  Beauniunt  made  application  for  a  cadet 
appointment  for  his  son  through  Senator  Thomas  Hart  Benton,^ 
but  Buddy  refused  to  accept  the  appointment. 

In  his  professional  relations  with  patients.  Beaumont  was  firm 
and  unbending,  a  quality  which  made  him  both  friends  and  foes. 
Many  anecdotes  and  i-eminiscences  have  come  to  me  concerning  his 
unique  methods  in  both  professional  and  private  life,''  which  I  shall 
not  relate  here,  because  the  traits  of  character  that  they  reveal  have 
been  made  very  evident  in  previous  chapters.  The  following  little 
note  to  his  intimate  friend,  J.  H.  Freligh,  shows  his  dignified,  yet 


3  Dr.  Beaumont  was  a  devoted  friend  of  Senator  Benton,  and  was  in  fre- 
quent communication  with  liim  concerning  various  matters.  His  cousin,  Andrew 
Beaumont.  Congi  essman  from  Pennsylvania,  gives  a  splendid  estimate  of  the 
"Colonel"  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Beaumont  about  this  time,  which  is  of  sufficient  his- 
torical interest  to  be  quoted  here:  "I  yesterday  listened  to  your  great  man  from 
the  West.  Colonel  Benton,  with  pain  and  delight — pain  that  I  could  not  hear  all 
he  said  and  delight  at  all  I  did  hear  of  what  he  said.  His  speech  was  chiefly 
directed  to  the  course  pursued  by  John  C.  Calhoun  in  reference  to  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas  and  the  Mexican  War.  He  is  a  great  man — the  most  of  a  states- 
man of  his  contemporaries.  1  would  be  proud  of  such  a  man  in  the  state  where 
my  lot  is  cast.  He  is  a  real  Roman,  and  fills  out  completely  my  beau  ideal  of 
an  American  senator.  Mr.  Calhoun  is  gieat.  but  lacks,  in  my  opinion,  in  that 
noble,  frank  directness  which  so  eminently  characterizes  Mr.  Benton.  When  I 
see  Benton  in  the  Senate  pouring  forth  the  rules  and  rigid  truths  of  American 
history,  I  cannot  count  our  republic  as  having  existed  for  nothing,  or  that  it  will 
sink  soon,  like  the  nations  that  have  flourished  in  Yucatan,   into  oblivion." 

*Dr.  Thomas  OReilly  was  responsible  for  a  newspaper  article,  which  appeared 
several  years  ago.  in  which  he  relates  how  Dr.  Beaumont  once  barricaded  Olive 
street  against  the  county  officials.  It  seems,  as  the  city  grew.  Olive  street  was 
extended  westward,  and  for  some  reason  the  county  authorities  decided  on  a 
"set-off"  at  Jefferson  avenue,  which  would  have  taken  the  street  directly  through 
Beaumont's  country  place.  The  Doctor  opposed  this  vehemently,  but  found  that 
the  authorities  were  determined  to  carry  out  the  project.  With  his  usual  de- 
termination, he  employed  a  number  of  men  to  throw  up  a  breastwork  right 
across  the  line  of  the  road,  and  armed  them  with  double-barrel  shotguns.  This 
caused  a  reconsideration  of  the  plans  by  the  authorities,  who  now  wisely  decided 
to  continue  the  road  due  west  instead  of  northwest  through  Beaumonfs  prop- 
erty, and  thus  farther  trouble  was  averted. 


1840-1853 — Professional  Partnerships  271 

friendly,  attitude  toward  tlie  layman.     ITis  friend  wished  liim  to 
have  a  homeopath  in  consultation,  to  which  he  replied : 

Yours,  Henry,  of  this  morning,  was  reed,  and  kindly  appreciated.  No 
appreciable  offense  felt  at  the  course  you  have  taken  for  the  rescue  of 
your  Infant.  But  your  reason  and  sense  of  propriety  will  excuse  me  for 
declining  your  request  of  associating  my  professional  character  and  repu- 
tation with  the  infinitesimal  part  of  nothing,  alias  Homeopathy.  Quackery, 
Humbuggery,  etc. 

Several  young  physicians  had  made  overtures  to  join  him  in  a 
medical  partnership,  aiiiong  whom  Avere  Drs.  Sykes  and  J.  B. 
McDowell.  "When  Sykes  wrote  him  concerning  the  matter  a  few 
years  before,  Dr.  Beaumont  replied : 

I  should  be  happy  indeed  to  afford  you  all  the  facility  in  my  power  to 
improve  your  fortune  and  extend  the  sphere  of  your  practical  usefulness 
and  professional  reputation.  But  I  am  and  ever  have  been  averse  to  pro- 
fessional copartnership,  and  have  declined  many  propositions  of  this  kind 
within  the  last  two  years,  not  only  from  my  settled  aversion,  but  from 
an  existing  impropriety  of  doing  so,  being  myself  a  member  of  the  Medl. 
staff  of  the  Army,  and  stationed  at  this  place  for  the  performance  of 
special  public  duties.  I  should  feel  restricted  by  a  sense  of  propriety 
from  wishing  to  form  any  connection  in  private  business  while  attached 
to  the  public  service.  There  is  much  business  to  be  done  here,  and  many 
medical  men  to  do  it — some  50  or  60,  I  suppose.  I  do  all  I  can  myself, 
and  leave  the  rest  to  be  done  by  others,  feeling  neither  compunction  nor 
jealousy  at  their  good  or  ill  success.  I  presume  you  might  take  your  due 
share  of  business  were  you  to  come  here,  and  it  would  afford  me  great 
pleasure  to  promote  your  success,  should  you  make  your  appearance 
among  us. 

On  entering  private  life,  however,  he  decided  to  accept  young 
Sykes  as  a  partner  in  order  to  be  relieved  of  his  increasing  labors, 
and  that  he  might  leave  his  duties  for  a  few  months  at  a  time 
if  he  so  desired.  The  jjrofessional  partnership  under  the  style 
of  Beaumont  &  Sykes  was  begun  in  March,  1839.  They  became 
joint  partners  in  business,  but  unequal  sharers  of  the  avails. 
Beaumont  reserving  to  himself  all  of  the  returns  from  obstetrical 
practice  and  consultations,  and  "then  the  labors,  avails,  and  re- 
sponsibilities of  the  general  practice  were  to  be  equally  shared  and 
divided  between  them."  Within  two  years  disagreement  came,  and 
Beaumont  &  Sykes  announced  in  the  newspapers  their  dissolution 
of  partnership.  Dr.  Beaumont  gave  as  his  reason  that  Dr.  Sykes, 
"thinking  it  for  his  special  interest  and  popularity  perhaps,  chose 


272  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  ^ViJliam  Biatimenit 

to  avail  himself  of  a  treacherous  memory  or  perverted  conscience, 
and  my  disadvantage  of  a  verbal  agreement  Avithout  a  third  per- 
sonal proof,  to  deny  the  contract,  forfeit  all  confidence,  sacrifice 
his  integrity,  and  connnence  legal  and  vexations  prosecutions  to 
obtain  from  me  what  is  not  his  due  and  for  which  lie  has  not  the 
shadow  of  a  just  claim."  A  perusal  of  the  papers  shows  that  there 
Avas  much  difficulty  in  arriving  at  a  satisfactory  settlement. 

In  spite  of  this  experience,  several  years  later  he  took  into  his 
office  Dr.  George  Johnson,  a  young  man  Avho  had  read  medicine 
with  him  for  three  years  and  afterward  took  a  course  of  lectures 
at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  They.  too.  disagreed  after 
several  years,  and  referees  named  by  both  parties  Avere  called  on 
to  settle  their  dispute. 

Being  much  in  need  of  an  assistant,  he  noAv  made  an  eft'ort  to 
haA'e  Dr.  Samuel  Beaumont  come  to  him  from  Plattsburgh,  oft'ering 
him  an  assistantship  at  .^1.000  a  year.  Avithout  his  having  to  sacri- 
fice his  self-esteem  or  his  identity:  as  Dr.  Beaumont  put  it, 
"Avithout  requiring  of  you  anything  derogatory  to  your  profes- 
sional, moral,  political,  or  religious  character  or  standing  in  the 
community  or  in  your  own  reasonable  self-esteem.''  and  promised, 
in  addition,  to  give  him  enough  to  do  to  occupy  his  thoughts,  and 
exercise  his  "mind  and  muscles  to  healthful  fatigue  and  exclusion 
of  ennui."  and  added  : 

But  notwithstanding  I  decline  more  practice  daily  than  half  the  doc- 
tors in  the  city  get  in  a  Aveek,  you  thought  Avheu  you  Avere  here  befores 
there  Avas  too  much  competition  for  you  even  to  think  of  succeeding  in 
business  here.  There  is  10  times  as  much  noAv,  and  the  better  I  succeed 
and  prosper  for  it.  You  must  come,  then,  Avith  different  feelings  from 
your  former  [visit],  Avith  a  determination  to  folloAv  in  my  Avake  and  stem 
the  current  that  I  Av'ill  break  for  you.  I  am  noAv  in  the  grand  climac- 
terium of  life,  three  score  years  and  over,  Avith  equal  or  more  zeal  and 
ability  to  do  good  and  contribute  to  professional  science  than  at  45,  and 
I  noAV  look  forAvard  Avith  pleasing  anticipations  of  success  and  greater 
usefulness,  have  ample  competency  for  ourselves  and  children,  and  no 
doleful  or  dreadful  aspect  of  the  future.  To  be  sure,  I  have  to  Av^restle 
Avith  some  adverse  circumstances  of  life,  and  more  particularly  to  defend 
myself  against  the  envious,  mean,  indigent,  and  professional  jealousies 
and  the  consequent  prejudices  of  communities.     But  I  triumph  over  them. 

The  Doctor  had  become   a  member  of  the   ]\[edical  Society  of 


5  In   1837   Dr.    Samuel  Beaumont   had    visited   St.    I^ouis   witli    the   Intention   of 
joining  Dr.  Beaumont,  but  could  not  make  up  his  mind  to  "play  second  fiddle." 


1840-1853— First  Jlcdical  Society  of  Missouri  273 


Dr.  Beaumont  at  the  age  of  66  years.    (From  an  old  dagnerreotj-pe.) 


'"God  grant  you  maj'  live  a  hundred  years  in  happiness  and  doing  good  to 
your  race.  As  to  immortality,  you  have  already  secured  your  share.  Har\'ey 
and  Galen  -will  find  themselves  behind  you  in  this  item  in  the  gi'eat  daj'  of  final 
settlement  of  all  earthly  accounts.  As  long  as  men  have  stomachs  and  are  com- 
pelled to  eat  food  to  sustain  life,  so  long  will  your  researches  on  the  physiolog^y 
of  digestion  be  known  and  admired,"     (Letter  from  Dr.   John  McCall,  1S46.) 


274  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WiUiam  Beamnont 

^Missouri''  soon  after  locating  in  St.  Louis,  and  was  one  of  its  first 
members.  A  careful  examination  of  the  minutes  from  the  time  he 
joined  the  society  up  to  IMarch,  1843,  when  he  tendered  his  resig- 
nation, shows  that  he  took  an  active  part  in  many  stormy  sessions, 
for  in  those  days  peace  was  not  abroad  in  the  land  of  medicine 
in  St.  Louis.  In  1838  he  was  elected  vice-president,  but  resigned 
at  the  very  next  meeting,  doubtless  for  some  good,  but  unexpressed^ 
reason.  In  April,  1839,  a  committee  of  the  society  was  appointed 
to  determine  if  any  member  was  guilty  of  infraction  of  section  10 
of  article  I  of  the  by-laws.  At  a  special  meeting  the  committee 
reported  an  advertisement  in  the  columns  of  the  Repuhlican  an 
infraction  of  this  section,  and  recommended  that  the  society  take 
some  action  in  the  matter.  The  advertisement'  which  offended  the 
ethical  eyes  of  some  of  the  members:  was  to  the  effect  that  "Drs. 
Wm.  Beaumont  and  James  Sykes  (the  latter  late  of  Maryland), 
having  associated  themselves  in  professional  business,  hope  satis- 
factorily to  extend  their  practice  to  all  branches  of  physic  and 
surgery  incident  to  this  community.  Dr.  Sykes,  having  had  nuich 
experience  and  success  in  ophthalmic  surgery,  will  be  able  to  aft'ord 
effectual  relief  in  most  cases  of  the  eye.  Dr.  S.  may  be  found  for 
the  present  at  the  National  Hotel,  except  when  professionally 
engaged."  When  the  sub.ject  came  up  for  action.  Dr.  Beaumont 
took  the  floor,  and  said  that,  little  as  he  was  accustomed  to  public 
speaking  and  to  vindicating  himself  against  charges  of  unprofes- 
sional conduct,  he  would  endeavor  to  defend  himself  in  the  matter 
pending  before  the  society  in  the  best  manner  that  he  could.  He 
could  not  for  a  inoment  conceive  how  his  advertisement  could  be 
viewed  by  any  gentleman  in  the  society  as  in  conflict  with  section 
10  of  article  I  of  the  by-laws;  he  thought  that  that  particular  by-law 
was  leveled  exclusively  against  empirics  and  empty  pretenders. 
He  said  that  his  advertisemicnt  had  not  been  framed  without  due 
consideration,  and  he  thought  that,  instead  of  conflicting  with  the 
by-laws  in  cpiestion,  it  tended  rather  to  sustain  and  to  enforce  the 
spirit  of  the  law.  The  vote  of  the  society  was  unanimous  in  re- 
spectfully requesting  that  the  advertisement  be  discontinued,  which 
was  promptly  done.     It  is  worthy  of  note,  in  connection  with  this 


"  Now  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Society,  organized  April,  1836.  Dr.  Beaumont 
was  also  made  corresponding  member  of  the  National  Institution  for  the  Promo- 
tion of  Science  at  Washington  on  August  22,  1840,  and  a  member  of  the  St.  Louis 
Horticultural  Society  on  May  1.5,  1847. 

'An  examination  of  the  old  newspaper  files  shows  that  advertisements  of 
similar  phraseology  were  not  infrequent  in  those  days. 


1840-1853 — Inaugural  Address  as  President  275 

controversy,  that  Dr.  J:  B.  IMcDowell  was  called  up  before  a 
specially  appointed  committee,  found  guilty  of  gossiping,  and  Avas 
requested  to  tender  his  resignation. 

On  May  8,  1840,  Beaumont  was  elected  president  of  the  society, 
and  later  delivered  his  inaugural  address,  an  extract  from  which 
will  give  a  fair  idea  of  the  status  of  the  medical  profession  at  that 
time  in  this  growing  western  town.  After  the  usual  introductory 
remarks,  he  discussed  the  ob.ject  of  medical  organizations  in  general, 
and  then  proceeded  to  show  how  far  the  First  Medical  Society  of 
Missouri  had  missed  its  mark.  In  reviewing  the  history  of  the 
organization,  he  said : 

But  not  until  the  admission  into  the  society  and  development  of  some 
pernicious  influences,  emanating  from  that  anomalous  assemblage  of  dis- 
contented spirits,  deceived  strangers  and  duped  imbeciles,  self-styled 
"medical  conventions,"  in  1839,  were  the  torch  of  contention  and  seeds  of 
discord  introduced  amongst  us,  yet  since  that  time  vi^e  have  witnessed 
little  else  at  our  meetings  than  one  continual  series  of  strife,  jargon  and 
confusion — angry  debate,  personal  invective,  abuse  and  total  disregard  of 
the  honor,  interest  or  reputation  of  the  society. 

And  here  allow  me  to  inquire,  have  not  falsehood  and  misrepresenta- 
tions been  propagated  without,  and  malicious  charges  and  prosecutions 
been  attempted  within,  the  Society  against  honorable  members  without 
their  knowledge  and  in  their  absence? 

Have  not  our  records  been  polluted  with  false  entries  by  a  Recording 
Secretary  and  unauthorized  interpolations  made  by  another  member; 
the  first  suffered  to  withdraw  from  the  Society  without  being  arraigned 
for  the  proper  investigation  of  his  conduct,  and  the  other  allowed  to  pass 
unnoticed? 

Does  not  gratuitous  swearing  or  rank  perjury  before  courts  of  law, 
designed  to  screen  a  murderer  from  condign  punishment,  and  blacken  the 
characters  and  blast  the  fair  reputation  of  honest  and  honorable  members 
of  the  profession,  go  unpunished,  unabated  and  unwhip'd  of  justice? 

Have  we  not  the  degrading  instance  in  this  city  of  medical  men, 
claiming  to  be  respectable  in  the  profession,  conspiring  to  afford  collusive 
testimony  to  the  public  tribunal,  discreditable  and  damning  even  to  them- 
selves, with  evident  malicious  design  and  dishonest  intent  to  debase  the 
Medical  character  of  this  community,  injure  individual  reputations,  per- 
vert justice,  rob  the  gallows  and  subvert  the  best  moral  principles  of 
Society?  Surely  such  monsters  of  depravity  should  be  branded  with  the 
indelible  marks  of  infamy  and  disgrace,  excluded  from  the  pale  of  civil- 
ized society,  and  rendered 

"Fixed  figures  for  the  hand  of  scorn 
To  point  her  slow,  unmoving  finger  at." 


276  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

Have  not  justice  slept  and  judgment  slumbered  in  restless  repose,  and 
suffered  selfish  effrontery  or  pinching  parsimony  to  defraud  the  society  of 
its  legitimate  dues  with  impunity?  Can  we  not  discern  green-eyed 
jealousy,  envy,  fastidious  folly  and  disgusting  arrogance  disseminating 
their  baneful  influence  amongst  us? 

Do  not  members  of  this  Society  designedly  absent  themselves  and 
meanly  skulk  from  our  meetings  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  a  quorum, 
hoping  thereby  to  destroy  the  object  and  usefulness  of  our  association? 
And  do  not  these  members  seek  to  amalgamate  themselves  with  our  bit- 
terest professional  enemies,  men  rejected  for  their  demerits,  disappointed 
applicants  for  admission  into  our  society,  and  vain,  vindictive  itinerants 
and  egotistical  characters  called  Professors  of  a  self-generated,  ill-begotten 
Semi-vital  institution  yclept  "Medical  School"  somewhere  in  this  vicinity, 8 
which,  alike  regardless  of  the  common  courtesy  of  Medical  communities 
and  destitute  of  professional  decency  and  etiquette,  obtruded  itself  into 
public  notice  like  a  swarm  of  ephemeral  insects  by  the  disgusting  noise 
of  its  own  creation  in  its  sudden  transit  to  decay  and  nothingness,  and  of 
whom  we  know  little,  but  hear  much  of  senseless  vaunting  and  self- 
indited  puffs,  plaudits  and  fraternal  adulation  in  newspapers  and  pam- 
phlets, and  personal  gasconading  garrulity  in  community? 

His  adniinistratioii  was  evidently  not  sneeessful  in  bringing  har- 
mony into  the  discordant  assemblage,  for  the  minutes  record  at 
meeting  after  meeting  only  the  words,  "no  qnonim." 

The  Darnes-Davis'^  episode,  in  which  Beaiiuiont  played  a  con- 
spicuous role,  and  to  which  he  doubtless  refers  in  his  address,  was 
one  in  which  Mr.  Darnes,  a  respectable  citizen  of  St.  Louis,  attacked 
Mr.  Davis,  editor  of  the  Argus,  beating  him,  over  the  head  with  an 
iron  cane.  After  consultation  of  three  physicians,  Beaumont  tre- 
phined the  skull  and  removed  spicula?  of  bone.  Shortly  after  the 
operation,  which  was  performed  without  an  anesthetic,  Davis  lapsed 
into  unconsciousness  and  died  a  few  days  later.  The  trial  of  Mr. 
Darnes  took  placfe  in  November,  1840.  The  counsel  for  the  defense 
contended  that  it  was  not  certain  whether  Davis  died  from  the 
blows  upon  the  head  or  from  the  operation  performed  by  Dr. 
Beaumont,  and  presented  as  witnesses  three  physicians,  Drs.  Lane, 
Knox,  and  White,  who  gave  testimony  to  the  effect  that  there  were 
no  symptoms  calling  for  trephine,  and  that  it  was  a  serious  opera- 
tion and  liable  to  fatal  termination.  It  might  be  well  to  mention 
that  none  of  these  physicians  saw  the  patient  at  any  time,  or  were 


^Refers  to  the  medical  department  of  Kemper  College,  organized  in  1839  by 
Dr.  Joseph  Nash  McDowell,  which  became  in  later  years  the  Missouri  Medical 
College. 

"Missouri  Repuhlican  files,  November,  1840;  "History  of  St,  Louis,"  by  Richard 
Edwards  and  M,  Hopewell,  M.  D.,  1860. 


1840-1853— Dames-Davis  Episode  277 

present  at  the  operation.  The  attorneys  maintained  that  the 
operation  was  another  one  of  Beaumont's  experiments,  that  he  was 
"boring  for  symj^toms, "  and  facetiously  suggested  that  he  was 
known  to  be  a  man  of  great  curiosity,  and  that  he  kept  St.  Martin's 
stomach  open  for  the  same  reason  that  he  bored  into  Davis'  head — 
namely,  to  see  what  was  going  on  within.  After  a  tedious  trial  of 
two  weeks  the  accused  was  found  guilty  of  manslaughter  in  the 
fourth  degree  and  fined  $500.  In  the  meantime  much  animosity 
and  ill-will  had  been  engendered  through  the  trial  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  medical ,  profession.  This  soon  found  expression  in 
another  incident,  known  as  the  "Mary  Dugan  case." 

In  the  record-room  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  St.  Louis  there  are 
to  be  found  well-preserved  files^''  of  the  case,  entitled  "Mary  Dugan 
vs.  "William  Beaumont  and  Stephan  M.  Adreon."  It  is  an  action 
of  "trespass  on  the  case,"  wherein  the  plaintiff  claims  damages  in 
the  sum  of  $10,000  growing  out  of  alleged  malpractice  on  the  part 
of  the  two  defendants.  The  petition  was  fdecl  on  October  9,  1844. 
alleging  that  during  May  in  the  year  of  1840  she  was  afflicted  with 
a  hernia,  and  that  the  defendants  "did  so  ignorantly,  negligently, 
and  unskillfully  treat  and  operate  upon  the  body  of  the  said  plaintiff 
for  the  healing  and  curing  of  said  disease,  .  .  .  and  did  then 
and  there  by  means  of  said  instruments  cut  into  the  abdomen  of 
the  said  plaintiff  and  through  and  into  one  of  the  intestines  of  the 
said  plaintiff."  To  these  charges  general  denials  were  interposed, 
and,  with  the  issues  thus  joined,  the  trial  progressed.  Trusten 
Polk,  afterward  governor  of  the  state  of  Missouri,  was  Beaumont's 
attorney.  It  was  charged  by  the  defendants  that  certain  physicians 
who  "calculate  their  own  success  by  others'  downfall"  had  injected 
themselves  into  the  case  and  had  urged  Mrs.  Dugan  to  file  suit.  Dr. 
Beaumont  said : 

I  was  invited  by  Dr.  Adreon  to  see  Mary  Dugan  a  few  days  after  lie,  as 
her  attending  physician,  had  punctured  a  tumor  and  abscess  in  the  right 
inguinal  region;  that  I  then  and  there  examined  it  thoroughly,  detected 
no  hernia  or  vestige  of  hernia,  but  found  an  ugly  sloughing  abscess,  with 
fistulous  openings  through  the  muscles  into  the  abdomen,  discharging 
offensive,  fecal,  purulent  matter,  clearly  demonstrating  to  my  mind  at  the 
time  its  real  and  definite  character — "typhlo-enteritis,"  or  perforative 
ulceration  of  the  cecum. 

The  most  intense  feeling  was  manifested  throughout  the  trial. 


1°  No.  179,  St.  Louis  Circuit  Court,  November  term,  1844. 


278  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

There  were  subpenaed  by  both  the  plaintiff  and  the  defendants 
some  of  the  most  eminent  physicians  and  surgeons  then  in  practice 
in  St.  Louis,  among  whom  were  Charles  A.  Pope,  Joseph  Nash 
McDowell,  Thomas  S.  Reyburn,  William  McPheeters,  Hardage 
Lane,  and  others.     The  trial  was  hotly  contested. 

The  jury  rendered  a  verdict  for  the  defendants,  and  thus, 
judicially  at  least,  Beaumont  and  Adreon  received  a  complete 
exoneration :  but  be  it  said  for  Dr.  Beaumont  that  his  connection 
with  the  ]\Iary  Dugan  ease,  medically  as  well  as  legally,  was  entirely 
incidental.  He  Avas  summoned  in  consultation,  and  therefore  at 
no  time  could  his  legal  liability  for  malpractice  have  been  seriously 
entertained.  In  view  of  the  facts  as  developed  and  the  law,  the 
conclusion  is  almcst  irresistible  that  Dr.  Beaumont  was  made  a 
party  defendant  to  the  legal  proceedings  in  order  to  embarrass  Dr. 
Adreon  and  weaken  his  defense,  for  at  that  time  there  Avas  a  rule 
of  the  common  law  disqualifying  a  party  to  the  record  from  ap- 
pearing as  a  witness.  This  conclusion  is  confirmed  l\v  Dr.  Beau- 
mont's own  belief  in  the  matter,  as  expressed  in  a  letter  to  Dr.  T. 
L.  Reyburn,  Avherein  he  said:  ''I  was  not  supposed  to  have  been 
originally  associated  with  Adreon  in  the  suit,  but  subsequently 
included,  no  doulit.  in  the  declaration  to  de])rive  the  defense  of  my 
testimony  before  the  court." 

The  verdict  by  no  means  closed  the  incident,  for  there  then 
ensued  an  extensive  war  of  words  through  the  columns  of  the  St. 
Louis  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  until  its  pages  were  closed  to 
any  further  eonununications  on  the  subject,  whereupon  supple- 
ments^^ Avere  issued  by  the  authors  at  their  oavu  expense. 

In  vicAv  of  all  this,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Dr.  Beaumont  should 


'1  The  first  supplement  was  a  complete,  unsigned  review  of  the  case,  in  which 
was  reproduced  in  full  the  testimony  of  various  witnesses.  This  called  forth  the 
"Remarks  of  T.  J.  AA'hite.  M.  D..  by  way  of  vindication  of  himself  from  the 
aspersions  and  misrepresentations  contained  in  the  following:  extracts  from  a 
paper  on  typhlo-enteritis  by  Thomas  Reyburn.  M.  D."  In  this  article  he  re- 
viewed the  case  from  his  own  standpoint,  and  refers  sarcastically  to  the  "far- 
famed  case  of  Missouri  t\-phlo-enteritis"  and  the  "Missouri  typhlo-enterite, 
alias  herniete."  This  was  followed  by  "A  supplement  to  the  July  number  of  the 
St.  Louis  Medical  cuid  Surriical  Journal,  by  Thomas  Reyburn.  1846."  There  then 
followed  in  rapid  succession  an  "Appendix  to  the  supplement  to  the  July  num- 
ber of  the  St.  Louis  Medical  and  Surr/ical  Journal,  being  Dr.  Fourgeaud's  reply  to 
Dr.  Reyburn's  supposition;"  "Dr.  Reyburn's  supplement  to  Dr.  Fourgeaud's 
appendix,  etc.,  being  a  reply  to  the  lucubrations  of  Dr.  Fourgeaud's  fancy,"  "Dr. 
Fourgeaud's  second  defense  against  the  charges  of  Dr.  Reyburn;"  "Dr.  Reyburn's 
remarks  to  the  readers  of  Dr.  Fourgeaud's  second  defense  against  the  charges  of 
Dr.  Reyburn;"  "A  vindication  of  character  and  an  examination  of  the  accusation 
contained  in  Dr.  T.  Reyburn's  supjilement  to  the  St.  Louis  Medical  and  Surc/ieal 
Journal,  by  F.  Knox.  M.  D. ;"  "A  discussion  of  charges  preferred  in  the  Dugan 
controversy,  being  a  reply  to  the  publication  of  Dr.  Fi-anklin  Knox;"  "A  vindi- 
cation of  character,  etc..  by  S.  AA'.  Adreon:"  "A  discussion  of  the  charges  pre- 
ferred in  the  Dugan  controversv.  with  a  demonstration  of  the  facts  in  the  case, 
by  T.  J.  AA'hite.  M.   D..  "  etc. 


1840-1853 — Estimate  of  St.  Louis  Medical  Men  279 

have  expressed  himself  so  drastically  concerning  his  professional 
brethren  in  response  to  a  letter  from  his  friend,  Dr.  McCall/-  of 
Utica,  who  had  extended  Beaumont  an  invitation  to  attend  the  first 
meeting  of  a  "  national  medical  convention ' '  on  the  first  Tuesday  of 
May  (1846)  in  the  city  of  New  York.     Dr.  McCall  wrote  : 

Your  presence  would  give  us  all  great  pleasure,  and  add  much  to  the 
interest  of  the  convention,  as  well  as  promote  the  cause  in  which  we  are 
all  engaged — that  of  doing  good  to  our  race.  But  you,  dear  sir,  have 
already  immortalized  yourself. 

Dr.  Beaumont  replied : 

I  wish  it  were  compatible  with  my  duties  and  disposition  to  accept  your 
courteous  invitation  to  attend  your  Medical  Convention  at  the  City  of 
New  York  next  month.  I  should  most  cheerfully  and  readily  contribute 
my  mite  for  the  promotion  of  the  object  in  view,  "the  good  of  our  race," 
and  gladly  add  pleasure  and  interest  to  the  assemblage  on  that  occasion; 
but  you  will  probably  have  more  than  enough  from  this  section  of  country 
without  me  to  create  and  keep  up  conflicting  interest  and  excitements  of 
various  kinds.  We  are  a  great  people  out  here  in  this  "far  West,"  and 
have  several  would-be  most  astonishingly  eminent  M.  D.'s  and  Professors 
of  every  grade  and  character,  from  the  truly  meritorious,  accomplished, 
and  skillful  surgeons  and  Physicians  to  the  veryest  charlatan  and  ignorant 
asses  in  Christendom,  and  a  heavy  delegation  has  been  elected  in  this  city 
recently  to  attend  your  Convention.  I  believe  some  15  or  20,  or  more, 
were  elected  to  represent  the  faculty  of  this  city.  Perhaps  they  will  not 
attend  "in  propria  persona,"  but  you  will  doubtless  have  a  specimen  of  the 
variety  of  professional  talent  and  disposition  of  our  medical  community; 
the  honorable  high-minded  and  nobly  aspiring  young  minds,  radiant  with 
vanity,  but  not  deficient  in  sound  sense  and  professional  skill  and  ac- 
quirements; the  invidious,  jealous  and  obsolescent  minds;  the  egregl- 
ously  egotistical  and  ignorant  blockheads  and  dunces;  some  mean  and 
vindictive,  and  others  on  a  descending  scale  even  down  to  the  very  bot- 
tom of  baseness  and  rascality.  I  presume  these  will  not  all  be  there,  but 
you  can  readily  designate  with  sufficient  accuracy  these  different  charac- 


i-Dr.  John  McCall  was  at  this  time  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine  in 
Utica,  N.  T.  He  had  been  a  fellow -surgeon  with  Beaumont  in  the  T\"ar  of  1812. 
assigned  to  duty  in  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  of  Infantry.  ("Memorial  History 
of  Utica,  N.  Y.."  by  M.  M.  Bagg,  M.  D.)  There  exists  among  the  Beaumont  pa- 
pers an  extensive  correspondence  between  these  two  stanch  friends  during  1S4.5- 
46.  Dr.  McCall  was  an  intimate  friend  of  George  and  William  Combe,  and 
through  them  he  was  in  constant  touch  with  their  brother,  Sir  Andrew  Combe, 
the  physiologist.  Dr.  McCall  had  observed  in  the  preface  to  Combe's  fifth  edi- 
tion of  "The  Physiology  of  Digestion"  reference  to  the  "very  valuable  work  of 
the  late  Dr.  Beaumont,"  He  immediately  wrote  to  ascertain  whether  Dr.  Beau- 
mont had  left  his  "service  in  this  country  and  gone  to  that  other  one  from 
whose  bourne  no  traveller  returns,"  Upon  receiving  satisfactory  evidence  that 
Dr.  Beaumont  was  "alive  and  live-like  to  be,"  he  informed  Dr.  Combe,  who  re- 
plied: "Most  heartily  glad  was  I  to  find  Dr,  Beaumont  still  a  living  and  active 
man  after  having  so  ceremoniously  slain  him  in  the  last  edition  of  my  Diges- 
tion." The  entire  correspondence  beams  with  the  good  fellowship  of  congenial 
souls,     I  regret  that  I  cannot  give  space  to  more  of  it. 


280  Life  and  Lciicrs  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

ters  and  dispositions  by  merely  asking  a  few  questions  about  me;  their 
answers  will  indicate  the  meanness  or  magnanimity  of  their  souls,  if  they 
have  any. 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  during  all  these  years  Beaumont 
had  lost  interest  in  St.  Martin's  "notable  stomach,"  although  he 
had  not  been  able  to  put  his  hands  on  the  man.  Both  his  own  am- 
bition to  finish  the  work  which  he  had  begun  and  the  continued 
interest  manifested  by  other  investigators  in  the  further  possi- 
bilitities  offered  by  Alexis'  ease  spurred  him  on  to  still  greater 
efforts  to  get  possession  of  him.  Incpiiries  were  being  made  from 
every  quarter  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  his  protege.  English  phy- 
sicians had  been  especially  active  in  their  efforts  to  have  him  come 
to  England.  Sir  Andrew  Combe  had  suggested  in  his  second 
edition  of  the  "Physiology  of  Digestion"  that  the  Royal  Society 
or  the  British  Association  should  make  efforts  to  have  St.  iNIartin 
brought  to  p]ngiand,  to  be  investigated  by  a  committee  of  their 
number.  The  suggestion  was  acted  upon  by  the  Medical  Section 
of  the  British  Association  at  Newcastle  in  August,  1839.  when 
"A  Chemico-]\redical  Committee,  consisting  of  Dr.  Thompson,  Dr. 
Prout,  Dr.  Graham,  and  Professor  Owen,  was  appointed  and 
authorized  to  apply  to  the  General  Committee  for  a  grant  of  £200 
from  the  funds  of  the  Association  to  enable  the  Chemical  Section 
to  bring  over  to  this  country  and  retain  for  one  year  Alexis  St. 
Martin  for  the  purpose  of  making  physiological  and  chemical 
researches  on  the  subject  of  digestion  in  connection  with  the 
Medical  Section.  But  the  application  was  refused  by  a  noble  mem- 
ber on  the  ground  that  the  subject  was  coarse  and  indelicate,  and 
calculated  to  disgust,  and  the  grant  was  refused.  "^•''  In  the  fol- 
lowing year,  when  the  association  met  at  Birmingham,  the  subject 
was  again  under  discussion,  and  Dr.  W.  Gibson,  of  Philadelphia, 
who  was  in  attendance,  was  requested  to  use  his  best  offices  in  its 
behalf.  Professor  Gibson  announced  this  fact  in  one  of  his  lectures, 
whereupon  young  Johnson,  who  had  been  a  pupil  of  Beaumont 
and  was  now  studying  medicine  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
warned  Dr.  Beaumont  to  "be  watchful,  or  those  wiley  Englishmen 
will  slip  him  over  to  London  before  you  are  aware  of  it." 

In  June,  1840,  Dr.  R.  T.  Thompson,  of  London,  wrote  to  Dr. 
Silliman  for  infoi'mation   concerning  Beaumont   and  his   pi'otege, 


'"Edinburgh    Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  vol.  LII.   1839,  cit.  S.  C.  Ayres,  M.  D., 
in  "A  Review  of  Dr.  "William  Beaumont's  Experiments  on  Alexis   St.  Martin." 


1840-1853~Englisli  Investigators  ^yant  Alexis  281 

inquiring  whether  it  vcus  likely  that  St.  ]\Iartin  could  be  prevailed 
upon  to  come  to  England,  and,  if  not,  whether  fluid  contents  of 
his  stomach  could  be  forwarded  to  him,  adding : 

.  .  .  But  if  I  could  have  the  patient  himself  beside  me  for  a  j^ear,  I 
think  something  of  importance  might  l3e  made  out.  In  arranging  the  mat- 
ter with  him,  it  would  be  necessary  to  give  him  a  bribe,  which,  I  have 
little  doubt,  might  be  obtained  from  the  association,  could  we  rid  our- 
selves of  the  aristocrated  incubus  which  assails  us  at  present. 

He  suggested  that,  if  necessary,  the  means  could  be  obtained  by 
public  subscription.  Professor  Silliman,  in  forwarding  the  reciuest 
to  Dr.  Beaumont,  suggested  that  the  doctor  accompany  St.  ^Martin 
as  his  protector  and  the  expounder  of  his  case.  Beaumont  evi- 
dently thought  well  of  the  suggestion,  and  at  once  got  into  com- 
munication again  with  his  mediator  in  Canada,  Mr.  ]\Iorrison. 
informing  him  of  the  demands  that  were  being  made  both  by 
foreign  and  domestic  institutions,  and  that  he  was,  therefore, 
exceedingly  anxious  to  have  Alexis  ''with  or  without  his  family" 
for  the  purpose  of  traveling  with  him  in  Europe.  He  agreed  to 
pay  him  a  good  salary,  and  at  the  same  time  to  advance  sufficient 
funds  to  enable  him  to  leave  his  family  comfortable  in  Canada. 
Alexis  evidently  evaded  the  issue  on  this  occasion,  as  had  been  his 
custom  in  the  past,  and  was  not  heard  from  again  until  three  yeai's 
later,  when,  in  need  of  funds,  he  wrote  the  Doctor  one  of  his  char- 
acteristic friendly  letters.  It  is  a  fair  example  of  those  received 
from  time  to  time,  Avritten  at  his  dictation,  ostensibly  prompted  by 
his  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  Beaumont  family,  but  in  reality 
with  a  more  subtle  object,  revealed  here  in  the  last  line. 

St.  TiiOiiAS,  :May  24th,   1843. 
Doctr.  William  Beaumont. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  written  Several  Letters  and  Reed.  Xo  answer. 
This  is  to  let  you  know  that  I  am  in  very  Good  health  at  Present,  and  I 
hope  this  will  find  you  the  Same.  I  beg  the  favor  of  your  answer  on  the 
receipt  of  this,  and  let  Me  KJaow  if  you  want  Me.  and  Can  Give  Me  the 
Same  Engagement  that  I  had  before.  Perhaps  I  ;\Iay  Come  and  Stop 
with  you,  but  at  all  Events  1  want  you  to  write  and  let  INIe  Know  how 
you  are  and  your  family.  I  thought  you  had  for  got  Me,  and  I  got  No 
answer  to  the  letter  I  wrote  yoti.  At  any  Rate,  I  have  Not  forgot  you.  I 
have  had  Some  Sickness  in  Mj^  family,  and  lost  two  of  My  Children,  and 
was  unwell  Myself  for  the  Best  Part  of  a  year.  My  wife  has  Been  very 
lonesome  Since  we  left  your  Place.  My  wife  joins  Me  in  Sending  our 
Best  Respects  to  you  and  your  wife.     I  have  had  offers  from  other  Doctors 


282 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 


Alexis  St.  Martin  at  about  the  age  of  07  vears.  (From  a  photograph  presented 
to  Austin  Flint,  Jr.,  bv  C.  G.  Stanly,  M.  D.,  in  May.  1871.  Courtesy  of  Dr. 
H.  M.  Whelplev.) 


1840-1853~Reneics  Xegotkitions  ^yith  Alexis  283 

to   live   with   ttiem,   but   I    would   not   except  without   letting   you   know. 
Money  here  is  very  Scarce. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Alexander   St.   Martin. 

Again,  in  1846,  Dr.  Beaumont  began  negotiations  to  obtain  St. 
Martin.  Among  his  papers  were  found  a  series  of  not  less  than 
sixty  letters  during  the  years  1846.  '50,  '51.  and  '52  bearing  solely 
on  this  subject,  the  last  one  six  months  before  his  death.  Space  will 
not  permit  a  complete  presentation  of  this  correspondence,  but  a 
synopsis  of  it  is  not  only  of  great  interest  from  an  historical  stand- 
point, but  important  as  revealing  the  great  zeal  and  industry  with 
which  he  pursued  the  subject  even  in  his  advanced  years. 

He  had  learned  through  Mr.  Crooks  some  time  before  that 
"Alexis  had  become  such  an  abandoned  drunkard"  that  he  could 
not  be  trusted  with  money,  and  that  it  would  be  useless  to  try  to 
get  him  to  St.  Louis  unless  it  were  possible  to  send  some  one  after 
him.  He  therefore  wrote  ]\Ir.  Morrison  (February  7.  1816).  asking 
him  to  again  locate  Alexis,  and  to  endeavor  to  send  him  on  to  St. 
Louis  with  some  one  who  might  be  making  the  trip.  ]\lr.  ]\lorrison 
replied  that  he  had  located  Alexis  living  in  the  next  parish,  that  he 
felt  inclined  to  return,  and  that  he  had  changed  much  in  his 
habits  of  drinking,  though  he  had  not  become  a  "teetotaler." 
On  receipt  of  this  information  the  Doctor  wrote  "Monsr.  Alexis  St. 
]\rartin, ' '  beseeching  him  to  come  on  at  the  earliest  possible  moment, 
lea\dng  his  family  in  Canada.  He  congratulated  him  on  the  moral 
improvement  of  his  life  and  habits,  and  urged  him  to  continue  in 
this  path  in  order  that  he  might  be  "duly  rewarded  by  God  and 
man." 

In  the  meantime  he  received  a  communication  from  his  cousin 
Samuel,  proposing  to  leave  Plattsburg  and  come  to  St.  Louis  with 
a  view  to  locating  and  practicing  here.  Dr.  Beaumont  saw  in  this 
move  not  only  a  sure  way  of  having  Alexis  brought  on  to  St.  Louis, 
but  an  opportunity  to  carry  on  his  investigations  Avith  the  aid  of 
his  cousin.  Lie  Avrote  him,  urging  him  to  carry  out  his  intentions, 
but  to  first  go  into  Canada  and  bring  Alexis  with  him.  "dead  or 
alive,  with  or  without  all  of  his  live  stock. ' '  He  was  again  doomed 
to  disappointment,  however,  for  his  cousin,  evidently  a  man  of  little 
determination,  failed  to  carry  out  his  original  intention. 

About  this  time  he  received  from  Alexis  another  letter,  dated 
April  25,  1846,  stating  that  he  could  not  come  without  his  family. 


284  Life  and  Letters  of  Br.  ^yiUia)n  Beaumont 

and  appealed  to  Ur.  Beaiiniout's  paternal  instinct  in  these  words: 
"Yon,  who  are  a  married  man  and  a  father,  can  easily  conceive 
how  very  dii^icult  it  is  for  me  to  tear  myself  forcibly  away  from 
here  without  a  reason  for  so  doing."  Driven  to  extreme  methods, 
and  determined  not  to  be  hampered  by  Alexis'  family,  now  consist- 
ing of  a  wife  and  live  children,  he  decided  to  send  his  son  into 
Canada,  and  at  the  same  time  Avrote  Alexis  (INIay  29,  1846)  : 

Now,  Alexis,  it  is  unnecessary  to  go  into  any  discussion  about  your 
family,  or  enumerate  the  repeated  instances  of  disappointment  that  have 
heretofore  occurred  on  this  account.  I  am  sorry  you  now  propose  the 
same  embarrassment  again  as  a  condition  to  your  compliance  with  my 
wishes.  You  know  for  what  I  wanted  you  then,  and  the  reasons  for  the 
arrangements  made  to  leave  your  family  with  their  friends  and  relatives 
in  Canada  while  you  came  here  with  me  for  an  expressed  purpose.  You 
know  the  embarrassment  and  interruption  that  have  occurred  heretofore 
to  the  prosecution  of  my  experiments  upon  you  on  account  of  having  your 
family  with  you.  ...  At  Prairie  du  Chien,  in  1832,  you  know  your 
wife  became  so  discontented  and  determined  to  go  back  that  you  were 
obliged  to  yield  to  her  and  disappoint  me.  ...  I  can  conceive  no  dif- 
ficulty, unreasonableness,  or  cruelty  in  leaving  your  family  comfortably 
situated  and  provided  for  with  their  friends  for  the  short  space  of  a  year 
or  two,  while  you  came  to  fulfill  your  obligations  to  me  faithfully  and 
honestly.     .     .     . 

But  I  cannot  again  voluntarily  subject  myself  to  defeat  and  disappoint- 
ment by  advancing  more  money  before  I  am  sure  of  your  personal  pres- 
ence here,  and  positive  surrender  of  your  services  in  fulfilment  of  your 
engagement,  unincumbered  by  any  drawback  upon  your  time  or  interrup- 
tion of  my  observations  and  experiments  upon  you.  ...  I  will  say  no 
more,  Alexis.  You  know  my  wishes  and  the  object  I  have  in  view.  You 
have  been  with  me  before,  and  can  judge  of  my  disposition  to  do  justly 
and  liberally  by  you.  I  believe  you  have  never  been  dissatisfied  with  what 
I  have  done  for  you,  and  I  think  you  never  will  be.  Israel,  my  son, 
will  be  with  you  some  time  in  the  month  of  June  for  the  express  purpose 
of  accompanying  you  on  here,  to  defray  your  necessary  expenses,  etc. 
You  must  come,  Alexis,  with  Israel.    Yrs.  in  friendship  and  good  will, 

Wm.  Beaumont. 

Alexis  replied  flatl.y  that  he  would  not  leave  his  family,  and  now 
assumed  an  attitude  of  bluff,  believing  that  this  method  would 
bring  his  benefactor  to  time,  and  wrote  in  the  following  vein : 

I  am  happy  where  I  am.  I  can  earn  sufficient  to  support  them  here. 
Money  is  of  no  object  to  me  alone.  My  only  wish  is  to  see  my  family  sat- 
isfied. .  .  .  Several  medical  men  of  Montreal  have  asked  me  to  hire 
to  them  for  that  purpose,  but  I  did  not  decide,  as  I  preferred  coming  to 


1840-1853— Sends  His  Son  After  Alexis  285 

you.     If  I  do  not  hear  from  you  again,  I  intend  to  spend  the  next  year  in 
town  for  that  purpose. 

In  the  meantime  "Buddy"  had  already  started  on  his  mission, 
and  proceeded  as  far  as  New  York  city  with  Colonel  Kitclicock,  who 
had  been  resting  at  the  Beaumont  home  while  under  the  treatment 
of  the  Doctor.  In  his  usual  methodical  way,  he  gave  his  son  written 
instructions  for  his  guidance. 

My  Son:  You  are  now  about  to  Start  on  an  excursion,  not  only  for 
pleasure  and  amusement,  but  for  the  improvement  of  your  mind  and  man- 
ners, the  acquirements  of  a  knowledge  and  right  understanding  of  men,  to 
see  the  transactions  of  business,  and  to  witness  the  ways  of  the  world  in 
general,  accompanied  by  a  man  of  worth  and  wisdom,  whose  counsels  and 
advice  cannot  fail  to  guide  you  correctly  while  with  him  and  absent  from 
your  parents.  You  will,  therefore,  listen  to  his  advice  and  give  ear  to 
his  counsels.  Should  yoii  separate  from  him  before  you  return  home, 
take  counsel  from  him  and  follow  his  instructions. 

Beware  of  forming  new  and  strange  acquaintances.  Be  affable  to  all, 
but  intimate  with  no  transient  ones.  Be  not  suspicious  of  everybody,  but 
circumspect,  reserved,  discerning  in  all  your  travelling  intercourse;  com- 
mit yourself  to  no  one.  Be  discreet  and  prudent  in  everything.  Take 
special  care  of  your  health,  avoid  unnecessary  exposures,  errors  in  diet, 
vicious  indulgences  and  immoral  associations  of  every  kind.  Scan  closely, 
reflect  materially,  appreciate  attentively  everything  that  may  come  within 
the  sphere  of  your  observation.  Be  constantly  on  your  guard  against  im- 
postors, humbugs,  pickpockets,  dandies,  knaves  and  fools,  the  wickedness 
of  men  and  the  wyles  of  woman ;  engage  in  no  adventures.  ...  If 
Alexis  concludes  to  come  without  his  family  on  the  terms  and  conditions 
heretofore  suggested  in  my  letter  to  Mr.  Morrison,  to  which  reference  may 
be  had  in  the  want  of  an  agreement,  Dr.  Saml.  Beaumont  will  fix  it  for 
you.  You  are  not  to  let  him  wheedle  you  out  of  any  more  advances  of 
money  than  what  may  be  indispensibly  necessary  for  his  personal  comfort 
and  convenience  in  coming  on  here.  You  will  take  him  in  charge  as  a 
private  Servant  in  travelling.  Keep  him  in  his  place,  and  strictly  control 
his  time  and  services.  Allow  no  undue  familiarity,  or  suffer  him  to  take 
the  slightest  advantage  of  your  age  and  inexperience.  ...  If  he 
should  become  obstinate  and  refractory,  and  give  you  much  trouble  in 
getting  him  along,  stop  his  travelling  expense  and  discharge  him  at  once, 
and  let  him  work  his  passage  back  or  foi'ward  as  he  may  choose,  and  pro- 
ceed on  without  him.  Have  some  such  written  agreement  made  with  him 
before  you  leave  Plattsburgh  that  you  may  rid  yourself  of  him  if  you 
choose,  even  on  the  way,  without  giving  him  anything  to  help  himself 
with.     .     .     . 

A  month  elapsed  before  he  received  any  news  from  the  important 
expedition  he  had  sent  into  Canada,  and  this  news  was  of  a  most 


286 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WilUarn  Beaumont 


General  Ethan  Allen  Hitchcock  and  Isi-ael  Green   (Buddy)   Beaumont.     (Fi'om 
a  daguerreotype  in  possession  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Beaumont  Keim.) 


"...  accompanied  by  a  man  of  worth  and  wisdom,  whose  counsels  and 
advice  can  not  fail  to  gnide  you  correctly  while  with  him  and  absent  from  your 
parents." 


1840-1853— New  Edition  of  the  Book  287 

disappointing  nature.  In  a  letter  from  Troy,  N.  Y.,  Buddy  in- 
formed his  father  of  the  visit  to  Alexis,  how  and  where  he  found 
him,  of  his  evasive  methods,  and  finally  of  his  determination  to 
remain  in  Canada.  He  gave  an  amusing  account  of  Alexis  and 
his  wife  and  children  in  the  French  cabin,  the  door  of  which  was 
so  low  that  he  bumped  his  head  on  entering.  Disappointed  and 
disgusted  with  this  experience,  the  Doctor  determined,  for  a  time 
at  least,  to  waste  no  more  energy  on  the  slippery  Alexis. 

In  the  early  part  of  this  year  ]\Ir.  Chauncey  Goodrich,  a  pub- 
lisher of  Burlington,  had  written- Beaumont,  proposing  the  publica- 
tion of  a  new  edition  of  his  work,  which  he  was  willing  to  undertake, 
agreeing  to  set  aside  for  the  author  a  certain  number  of  books  of 
each  thousand  printed,  to  which  Dr.  Beaumont  replied : 

Being  somewhat  difficlent  as  to  the  merits  of  my  own  woiiv,  and  laeing 
entirely  unacquainted  with  the  principles  and  usages  of  the  trade,  I  do 
not  conceive  myself  competent  to  judge  of  the  propriety,  public  benefits 
or  pecuniary  advantages  to  be  derived  from  affirming  your  proposals,  and 
shall  therefore  refer  you  to  my  cousin.  Dr.  Samuel  Beaumont,  of  Platts- 
burgh,  N.  Y.,  who  will  be  duly  authorized  to  make  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments with  you  on  the  subject. 

Samuel  was  simultaneously  advised  of  this  offer  and  the  reply, 
and  was  urged  to  take  up  the  matter  in  person  with  Mr.  Goodrich 
at  Burlington.  On  ^larch  16th  he  wrote  that  he  had  seen  Goodrich, 
and,  after  much  parleying,  had  finally  agreed  on  terms — namely, 
that  the  author  was  to  receive  two  hundred  copies  of  an  edition  of 
fifteen  hundred  books — and  continued  : 

I  then  thought,  and  I  still  think,  it  was  not  enough,  but  it  was  all  I 
could  get.  In  making  up  my  mind,  the  following  considerations  presented 
themselves:  First,  that  the  copyright  would  expire  in  one  year,  and  he 
would  then  have  the  right  to  print  it  without  consulting  the  author; 
second,  that  it  would  be  somewhat  mortifying  to  the  author  not  to  have 
his  work  republished,  even  if  no  great  pecuniary  benefit  was  to  be  ob- 
tained by  such  a  publication,  and  it  appeared  to  me  to  be  quite  certain 
that  a  new  edition  would  not  be  soon  printed  if  I  let  this  opportunity  slip; 
third,  I  have  been  long  anxious,  as  I  presume  you  have  been,  to  see  the 
work  gotten  up  in  a  better  dress  than  it  originally  had,  and  in  a  way 
which  will  give  it  a  general  credit  and  more  notoriety  among  all  classes 
of  the  reading  public  than  it  has  heretofore  possessed — in  fact,  make  it  a 
standard  work;  fourth,  it  has  given  us  a  chance  to  give  it  a  thorough  cor- 
rection, a  thing  which  was  very  desirable.  The  work,  you  recollect,  was 
got  up  in  a  hurry,  and  a  great  many  errors  escaped  notice.  You  may  also 
recollect  that  the  Philadelphia  reviewer  spoke  of  the  inaccuracies  in  the 


288  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  William  Beaumont 

work,  and  he  had  reason  enough  for  it.  In  looking  over  the  work  crit- 
ically with  a  view  of  correction,  I  have  been  perfectly  astonished  at  the 
errors  that  occur  on  almost  every  page;  and  although  we  understood  per- 
fectly what  we  meant  to  say,  the  reader  would  find  it  somewhat  difficult 
to  decipher  our  meaning.  In  the  first  140  pages  I  made  nearly  300  cor- 
rections. These  are  practically  merely  verbal  alterations,  or  change  of 
phrases  or  sentences,  so  as  to  make  them  more  accurate  or  perspicuous. 
I  have  in  no  case  so  changed  the  text  as  to  give  it  a  different  meaning. 
I  flatter  myself  that  it  will  now  be  more  worthy  the  public  patronage;  and 
if  for  no  other,  this  chance  for  correction  I  consider  alone  almost  a  suf- 
ficient remuneration  for  the  brief  limits  of  the  copyright.  I  have  also 
written  a  preface  to  the  second  edition,  making  quotations  from  American 
and  European  authorities  in  praise  of  the  merits  of  the  work.  From 
delicacy  I  have  written  this  as  from  the  publisher.  I  think  it  pretty  well 
done.  The  work  will  probably  be  published  in  the  course  of  about  a 
month,  and  those  designed  for  you  will  be  delivered  to  me,  when  I  shall 
send  them  to  you.  He  guarantees  not  to  sell  in  the  state  of  Missouri,  or 
the  states  south  and  west  of  that  state.  But  that,  of  course,  is  all  gam- 
mon. The  book  will  be  thrown  into  the  market,  and  he  can  not  control 
the  direction  in  which  it  will  go. 

Considerable  time  elapsed,  and,  hearing  nothing  more  of  this 
project,  Beaumont  made  iuquirr  of  his  cousin  as  to  whether  any- 
thing further  had  been  done  in  the  matter,  to  "which  he  received  a 
reply  (November  8,  18-1:7),  informing  him  that  the  new  edition  had 
appeared  during  the  month  of  ]\Iay  previous,  that  he  had  received 
a  few  copies,  and  a  promise  from  Mv.  Goodrich  that  he  would  send 
on  the  balance  to  St.  Louis,  and  added: 

Whether  he  did  so  or  not,  I  do  not  know,  as  I  have  not  seen  or  heard 
of  him  since,  nor  received  another  copy.  I  am  afraid  he  is  a  great  scamp, 
and  intends  to  cheat  us  out  of  the  small  pittance  which  he  promised.  I 
hope,  however,  he  has  sent  you  the  fifty  copies  as  he  promised.  The  work 
has  much  more  of  a  book-like  appearance  than  the  first  edition — is  well 
printed  and  well  bound.  He  has  taken  a  liberty,  however,  with  the  title 
page,  which  I  should  never  have  consented  to  if  I  had  been  consulted,  by 
introducing  the  words,  "Corrected  by  S.  Beaumont,  M.  D.,"  a  discovery  I 
did  not  make  until  it  was  too  late  to  remedy.  I  did,  indeed,  write  to  him, 
begging  him  that  he  would  suppress  the  title  page  and  print  a  new  one 
without  my  name,  but  I  never  received  an  answer  from  him.  I  suppose, 
however,  it  is  a  matter  of  very  little  importance,  as  the  ptiblic,  if  they 
think  of  it  at  all,  will  think  that  you  were  absent  from  the  place  of  pub- 
lication and  that  you  entrtisted  the  verbal  correction  to  your  friend. 

A  period  of  four  years  were  permitted  to  elapse  before  Beaumont 
made  any  further  overtures  to  his  "human  test  tube,"  and  he 
would  probably  not  have  found  heart  to  do  so  on  this  occasion  had 


1840-1853 — Claude  Bernard  Makes  Inquiry  289 

he  not  received,  early  in  1850,  a  new  impetus  through  a  letter  from 
Dr.  W.  G.  Edwards,"  from  Paris,  written  at  the  request  of  M. 
Claude  Bernard,  a  famous  French  physiologist : 

The  publication  of  your  observation,  exposing  so  clearly  and  analytic- 
ally the  physiology  of  the  stomach,  was  the  commencement  of  a  new  era 
in  the  study  of  this  important  organ  and  those  associated  with  it.  Your 
experiments  are  constantly  imitated  here  upon  animals  by  a  large  number 
of  investigating  physiologists,  among  whom  M.  Bernard  probably  stands 
first.  His  discoveries,  of  which  you  have  doubtless  heard,  have  rendered 
the  functions  of  the  pancreas,  liver,  etc.,  as  clear  as  yours  did  those  of 
the  stomach,  but  his  observations  have  necessarily  been  limited  to  animals, 
and  in  the  absence  of  yours  upon  man  would  lose  much  of  their  value, 
since  no  other  evidence  exists  of  the  identity  of  the  process  of  digestion 
in  man  and  the  lower  animals. 

The  animals  upon  which  he  operates  generally  sustain  no  serious  in- 
jury from  the  experiments  to  which  they  are  subjected,  and  after  the 
fistulas  are  healed  seem  to  enjoy  as  good  health  as  before  their  establish- 
ment or  during  their  existence. 

He  feels  some  interest  in  knowing  the  subsequent  history  of  Martin, 
and  requested  me  to  write  you,  inquiring  whether  you  had  kept  sight  of 
him,  what  is  the  nature  of  his  occupation,  his  health,  etc.,  if  he  is  still 
living,  with  such  other  information  concerning  him  not  contained  in  your 
publication  as  you  may  think  fit  to  communicate.  By  replying  briefly  to 
these  inquiries,  you  will  afford  M.  B.  a  great  deal  of  pleasure  and  confer 
a  great  favor  upon  myself. 

To  this  Dr.  Beaumont  replied : 

To  comply  with  your  request  affords  me  pleasure,  and  I  shall  be  happy 
in  gratifying  M.  Bernard  if  such  be  the  effect  of  this  communication. 
Mingled  emotions  of  gratification  and  regret,  of  pleasure  and  chagrin  fill 
my  breast  at  the  suggestion  of  the  kindly  credited  approbation  and  im- 
portance that  my  imperfect  experiments  have  been  or  may  be  to  the  truly 
scientific  investigators  of  that  most  essential  of  all  hygienic  subjects,  the 
physiology  of  digestion;  pleasure  and  gratification  that  my  feebly  imper- 
fect efforts  shall  have  added  even  in  a  small  degree  to  the  benefits  of 
science,  chagrin  and  regret  that  the  opportunity  has  been  so  unworthy 
the  credit  and  commendation  awarded.  But  I  still  entertain  hope  that  the 
future  efforts  and  opportunities  may  yet  enable  me,  or  others  more  capable 
than  myself,  to  retrieve,  in  a  measure,  the  neglected  opportunity  and  my 
own  former  inefficiency. 


"  Dr.  Willis  Green  Edwards  had  practiced  medicine  in  Illinois  for  a  number 
of  years.  He  was  an  ambitious  young  man.  with  much  professional  pride  and 
a  desire  to  further  his  scientific  attainments.  He  had  long  been  desirous  of 
studying  in  Paris,  and  as.  soon  as  he  had  sufficient  means  went  abroad.  While 
there  he  developed  tuberculosis,  but,  in  spite  of  this,  returned  to  St.  Louis 
and  taught  for  a  year  in  Pope's  College.  He  had  a  sudden  hemorrhage,  which 
necessitated  his  discontinuing  the  work,  when  he  fitted  out  a  carry-all,  in  which 
he  lived  in  Old  Mexico  until  he  died  in  1862. 


290  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WilUarn  Beaumont 

He  tlieii  Tnld  hiin  the  details  of  Alexis"  condition,  something  ot 
his  character,  of  his  family  "gotten  and  begotten"  since  his  re- 
covery from  his  injury,  how  he  had  "  lurched "'  him  in  1835.  and 
of  the  vain  eiforts  to  gain  possession  of  him  again. 

The  int(nest  manifested  by  M.  Bernard  evidently  rekindled  the 
old  spark  of  aml)ition  and  zeal,  and  prompted  him  to  reopen  a 
correspondence  with  ^h\  ]\Iorrison.  He  soon  learned  from  him  that 
Alexis  was  now  ready  to  come  on  with  his  family  for  a  considera- 
tion of  $250  per  year,  $150  of  which  was  to  be  sent  in  advance  for 
their  transportation:  that  he  Avas  "now  a  teetotaler,"  and  could  be 
relied  upon.  To  this  the  Doctor  replied  that  he  was  willing  to 
make  the  salary  even  $300  per  year,  but  that  he  still  questioned  the 
advisability  of  sending  him  money  in  advance;  yet,  if  his  coming 
could  not  be  accomplished  in  any  other  manner,  he  "must  do  so  at 
the  treble  risk  of  mail  robberies,  post  office  abstractions,  malapplica- 
tion  of  the  money  obtained. ' '  etc.  So  certain  did  he  feel  this  time 
of  Alexis'  presence  that  he  made  arrangements  with  the  medical 
college  to  present  a  course  of  lectures  and  a  resume  of  his  physio- 
logical experiments  on  the  gastric  functions.  A  month  later, 
however.  \sh(  n  he  thought  Alexis  well  on  his  way,  he  learned 
that  he  had  disappeared  from  home  before  arrangements  could  be 
completed,  that  they  had  been  expecting  his  return  daily,  but  were 
now  apprehensive  that  .something  had  happened  to  him.  AVhen 
news  was  again  received  of  Alexis  (January  1,  1851),  it  was  to  the 
effect  that  he  had  finally  returned,  that  preparations  had  been  made 
for  his  departure,  but  he  had  fallen  sick  and  could  not  proceed. 
Mr.  ]\Iorrison  now  believed  the  man's  constitution  ruined,  and 
doubted  whether  he  would  ever  be  well  enough  to  make  the  journey. 
This  news  did  not.  however,  deter  the  Doctor  from  making  further 
overtures  to  Alexis.     He  wrote  : 

I  hope  you  may  come  yet,  not  only  for  my  gratification,  but  for  your 
own  benefit  and  the  sake  of  science,  notwithstanding  the  discouraging 
aspects  contained  in  Mr.  Morrison's  last  letter  of  your  present  illness  and 
impaired  constitution.  Were  you  now  or  should  you  be  under  my  care  and 
protection,  I  would  feel  the  same  and  even  greater  interest  and  make 
greater  exertions  to  restore  your  health,  preserve  your  life,  and  perpetuate 
your  own  and  family's  comfort  and  prosperity  as  when  you  were  first  in- 
jured in  1822  to  "34.  I  preserved  you  then,  and  I  doubt  not  I  could  do  it 
again  to  your  own  satisfaction  and  greater  usefulness  to  mankind. 

After  exchanging  several  letters.  Beaniii<ait  liad  practically  de- 


1840-1853 — Final  Appeal  to  Alexis  291 

cidecl  to  go  himself  "in  propria  persona  and  bring  him,"  when  he 
received  word  that  Alexis  was  ready  to  start  at  once,  and  would 
certainly  not  fail  this  time.  In  reply  to  this  a  telegram  was 
immediately  sent  (October  23d)  : 

Yours  of  the  6th  received.  Send  Alexis  at  once.  Advance  for  me.  I'll 
remit  $100  per  mail. 

Alexis,  on  the  plea  of  having  to  clothe  his  naked  children,  again 
procrastinated  until  winter  was  upon  them  and  navigation  closed. 
With  the  opening  of  navigation  in  the  spring,  the  usual  corre- 
spondence was  begun.  In  the  meantime  Beaumont  was  again 
endeavoring  to  get  his  own  affairs  into  such  a  shape  that  he  could 
go  into  Canada  in  person,  but  professional  duties  made  this 
practically  impossible.  As  a  last  resort  he  made  a  new  and  more 
flattering  offer  in  what  proved  to  be  his  final  appeal  to  Alexis : 

MoN  Ami:  Without  reference  to  past  efforts  and  disappointments,  or 
expectations  of  ever  obtaining  your  service  again  for  the  purpose  of  ex- 
periments, etc.,  upon  the  proposal  and  conditions  heretofore  made  and 
suggested,  I  now  proffer  to  you  in  faith  and  sincerity  new,  and  I  hope 
satisfactory,  terms  and  conditions  to  ensure  your  prompt  and  faithful 
compliance  with  my  most  fervent  desire  to  have  you  again  with  me,  not 
only  for  my  own  individual  gratification  and  the  benefits  of  medical  sci- 
ence, but  also  for  your  own  and  family's  present  good  and  future  welfare. 

I  should  be  extremely  glad  to  see  you  here  this  winter,  and  I  am  sure 
neither  you  nor  your  family  would  ever  regret  it.  I  believe  I  have  sug- 
gested to  you  before  the  probability  and  almost  sure  practicability  of  ob- 
taining for  you  either  a  pension,  bounty  or  warrant  for  Land,  80  or  160 
acres,  from  our  Government,  to  which  you  would  be  entitled  were  you 
resident  in  the  States. i5  I  have  scarcely  a  doubt  but  that  you  could  ob- 
tain it  from  Congress  the  ensuing  session,  were  you  here  to  put  in  your  pe- 
tition in  time.  I  could  effect  for  your  benefit  what  very  few,  or  none  others, 
could  do  for  you.  I  have  influential  friends  in  Congress,  who  would  take 
special  interest  in  this  your  case.  You  could  not  obtain  anything  of  the 
kind  while  in  Canada,  nor  in  any  other  way  than  by  my  agency,  the  only 
medium  through  which  your  claim  could  be  made  out  and  substantiated. 

Alexis,  you  know  what  I  have  done  for  you  many  years  since;  what  I 
have  been  trying  and  am  still  anxious  and  wishing  to  do  with  and  for 
you;  what  efforts,  anxieties,  anticipations  and  disappointments  I  have  suf- 
fered from  your  nonfulfilment  of  my'  expectations.  Dont  disappoint  me 
more,  nor  forfeit  the  bounties  and  blessings  reserved  for  you. 

Dr.  Samuel  Beaumont  had  in  the  meantime  been  making  efforts 


'=  Congress  at  its  last  session  had  passed  a  law  granting  officers  and  soldiers 
of  the  army  a  bounty  of  80  or  160  acres  of  land.  Dr.  Beaumont  had  entered  his 
claim  for  160. 


292  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WilliaHt  Beautncjnt 

at  Plattsl)ui'^li  to  have  Alexis  eonie  on  to  St.  Jjoiiis.  and  had  written 
of  his  failure.     Dr.  Beaumont  replied  to  him  on  October  20,  1852: 

Yrs.,  My  dear  Cousin,  of  30th  ulto.  on  the  subject  of  that  "old  fistulous 
Alexis"  was  duly  received.  ...  I  have  evaded  his  designs  so  far,  but 
I  verily  fear  that  the  strong  and  increasing  impulse  of  conscious  convic- 
tion of  the  great  benefits  and  important  usefulness  of  further  and  more 
accurate  physiological  investigations  of  the  subject  will  compel  me  to  still 
further  efforts  and  sacrifices  to  obtain  him.  Physiological  authors  and 
most  able  writers  on  dietetics  and  gastiic  functions  generally  demand  it 
of  me  in  trumpet  tones. 

I  must  have  it  at  all  hazards,  and  obtain  the  necessary  assistance  to 
my  individual  and  private  efforts,  or  transfer  him  to  some  competent  sci- 
entific institution  for  thorough  investigation  and  report.  I  must  retrieve 
my  past  ignorance,  imbecility  and  professional  remissness  of  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  or  more,  by  double  diligence,  intense  study  and  untiring  appli- 
cations of  soul  and  body  to  the  subject  before  I  die. 

"Should  posthumous  Time  retain  my  name. 
Let  historic  truths  declare  my  fame." 

Simultaneous  with  this  letter  I  write  to  Mr.  Morrison  and  Alexis  my 
last  and  flnali''  letters,  perhaps,  proposing  to  him,  as  a  bribe  to  his  cupid- 
ity, to  give  him  $500  to  come  to  me  without  his  family  for  one  year — $300 
of  them  for  his  salary  and  $200  for  the  support  and  contentment  of  his 
family  to  remain  in  Canada  in  the  mean-time,  with  the  privilege  of  l)ring- 
ing  them  on  here  another  year,  upon  my  former  proposition  of  $300  a 
year,  at  his  own  expenses  and  responsibility,  and  support  them  himself 
after  they  get  here  out  of  his  $300  salary.  I  think  he  will  take  the  bait 
and  come  on  this  fall;  and  when  I  get  him  alone  again  into  my  keeping 
and  engagement,  I  will  take  good  care  to  control  him  as  I  please. 

Proposals  have  been  suggested  by  the  Professors  of  the  Medical  School 
here  to  take  up  and  prosecute  the  experiments  under  their  auspices,  and  I 
think  I  may  carry  it  into  effect  if  I  get  him,  if  they  will  back  the  expenses 
pretty  liberally  and  ol)ligate  not  to  filch  undue  credit  from  my  labors  past 
or  to  come.     .     .     . 

There  is  an  immense  professional  practice  in  this  City.  I  got  tired 
of  it,  and  have  been  trying  hard  to  withdraw  from  it  altogether,  but  the 
more  I  try  the  tighter  I  seem  to  be  held  to  it  by  the  people.  I  am  actually 
persecuted,  worried  and  almost  worn  out  with  valltudinarian  importunity 
and  Hypochondryal  groans,  repinings  and  lamentations.     Amen. 

In  184!)  Dr.  Beaumont  removed  to  tlic  city,  his  home  being 
at  that  time  beyond  the  city  limits,  because  of  the  increasing 
demands  on  his  time  and  the  difficulty  of  meeting  them  in  his 
advanced  years;  then,  too,  his  daughters  had  married  and  all  the 


'Strangely  thi.s  proved  to  be.  as  he  predicted,  his  final  letter  on  this  subject. 


1840-1853— Cholera  Epidemic  in  St.  Louis 


293 


children  Avere  now  away  from  home.  During  this  spring  "that 
scourge  of  saint  and  sinner,  the  cholera,"  had  made  its  appearance, 
having  been  carried  here  from  New  Orleans,  and  found  soil  in  the 
existing  unsanitary  conditions  of  St.  Louis.  The  disease  spread 
rapidly,  and  within  a  period  of  four  months  over  four  thousand 
had  succumbed  to  its  ravages.  Though  now  three  score  and  four 
years,  he  toiled  incessantly  day  and  night  throughout  the  epidemic 
with  the  zeal,  couraae,  and  fortitude  of  vouth.     Toward  the  end 


A  monument  near  the  old  quarters  of  the  officers  at  Fort  Mackhiac.  bearing 
the  inscription:  "Near  this  spot  Dr.  V^'illiam  Beaumont,  U.  S.  A.,  made  those 
experiments  upon  St.  Martin  which  brought  fame  to  himself  and  honor  to 
American  medicine.  Erected  by  the  Upper  Peninsular  and  Michigan  State 
medical  societies,  June  10.  1900."  - 


of  the  siege  he  wrote  to  a  friend  in  the  North,  at  his  reque.st.  out- 
lining in  detail  the  treatment  of  each  stage  of  the  disease  which  he 
had  found  most  successful,  and,  in  concluding  his  advice,  he  added-. 

.  .  .  But  if  the  subject  have  passed  the  verge  into  the  cold,  blue 
stage  of  collapse,  every  medical  means,  skill,  or  human  effort  seem  en- 
tirely impotent  of  relief,  and  worse  than  useless.  Death  triumphs  with 
perfect  ease  and  tranquility.  Relatives  and  friends  shriek  with  sorrowful 
emotions,  and  doctors  stand  aghast  in  mute  astonishment  and  mortifica- 


294  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  Williani  Beaumont 

tion  at  the  resistless  rapidity  of  a  disease  so  little  understood  and  over 
which  their  most  profound  skill  and  judgment  and  professional  efforts 
can  have  no  salutary  influence  or  effect.  ...  In  several  instances  I 
have  been  called,  only  to  witness  the  death  struggle  in  the  onset.  All 
attempts  at  interference  were  equally  ineffectual  and  useless.  A  sudden 
and  desperate  wrestle  between  life  and  death,  nature  and  disease,  a  trip 
and  a  twitch,  and  death  was  the  triumphant  conqueror.  May  God  avert 
the  fell  disease  from  your  community,  and  spare  you  all  individually  and 
professionally  from  the  agonizing  pain,  distress  and  consternation  of  its 
visitation.     .     .     . 

The  three  succeeding  and  final  years  found  him  still  devoted  to 
his  family,  his  friends,  and  his  work.  No  better  estimate  of  his 
well-rounded  character  can  be  formulated  than  that  presented  by 
two  contemporaries,  who  knew  him  intimately  during  these  latter 
years.     The  following  is  cpioted  by  Dr.  Reyburn : 

Dr.  Beaumont  possessed  great  firmness  and  determination  of  purpose; 
difficulties  which  would  have  discouraged  most  men,  he  never  allowed  to 
turn  him  from  his  course.  These  he  did  not  attempt  to  evade,  but  to  meet 
and  overcome.  He  possessed  more  than  any  man  I  ever  knew  a  knowl- 
edge (almost  intuitive)  of  human  character.  You  might  have  introduced 
him  to  twenty  different  persons  in  a  day,  all  strangers  to  him,  and  he 
would  have  given  you  an  accurate  estimate  of  the  character  of  each,  his 
peculiar  traits,  disposition,  etc.,  and  not  a  few  would  receive  some  appro- 
priate soubriquet  from  him.  He  was  gifted  with  strong  natural  powers, 
which,  working  upon  an  extensive  experience  in  life,  resulted  in  a  species 
of  natural  sagacity,  which,  as  I  suppose,  was  something  peculiar  to  him, 
and  not  to  be  attained  by  any  course  of  study.  His  temperament  was 
ardent,  but  never  got  the  better  of  his  instructed  and  disciplined  judg- 
ment, and.  whenever  or  however  employed,  he  always  adopted  the  most 
judicious  means  of  attaining  ends  that  were  always  honorable.  In  the 
sick-room  he  was  a  model  of  patien<:;e  and  kindness;  his  intuitive  percep- 
tions, guiding  a  pure  benevolence,  never  failed  to  inspire  confidence,  and 
thus  he  belonged  to  that  class  of  physicians  whose  very  presence  affords 
nature  a  sensible  relief. 

Such  a  man  could  view  the  approaching  infirmities  of  old  age 
with  that  calmness  and  satisfaction  that  characterizes  a  long  life 
well  spent,  and  so  he  did.  His  supreme  satisfaction  with  life  and 
his  perfect  readiness  for  death  he  expressed  beautifully  in  a  short 
"symphony"  to  a  friend  a  few  months  before  his  death: 

Myself  and  wife,  not  unlike  "John  Anderson,  my  Jo."  have  climbed  the 
hill  o'  life  togither,  and  many  a  canty  day  we've  had  wi'  ane  anither.  But 
now  we  maun  totter  down  life's  ebbing  wane  in  peaceful  quiet  ease  and 
compitence,  with  just  so  much  selfishness  and  social  sympathy  as  to  be 


1840-1853— Beaumont's  Death  295 

satisfied  with  ourselves,  our  children,  and  friends,  caring  little  for  the 
formalities,  follies,  and  fashions  of  the  present  age,  the  bustling  turmoils, 
vain  shows,  pride  and  pageantry  of  modern  Society,  or  the  jealousies  and 
envy  of  mean  or  malicious,  sure  of  rectitude  of  purpose  and  unconscious 
of  wrong  intentions  to  the  injury  of  any  human  being,  boastful  of  nothing, 
cheerfully  submissive  to  the  duress  of  fate,  the  freaks  of  fortune,  or  the 


Tombstones  at  the  graves  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Beaumont  in  Bellefontaine  Ceme- 
tery, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

last  fiat  of  nature.     Come  when  it  may,  we  only  ask  God's  blessings  on 
our  "frosty  brows,"  and  hand  in  hand  we'll  go  and  sleep  together. 

In  March,  1853,  while  returning  home  from  a  visit  to  a  patient 
late  in  the  evening,  he  slipped  on  ice-covered  stone  steps,  striking  his 
head  with  violence  as  he  fell,  and.  with  senses  benumbed  by  the  fall, 
wandered  about  until  met  by  a  friend.  ^\ho  accompanied  him  to  his 
home.     Though  his  injuries  were  considered  slight  at  the  time,  he 


296  Life  and  Lciios  of  Dr.  AViUiam  Beaumont 

never  completely  recovered  from  the  fall.  He  prophesied  at  the 
very  outset  that  the  injury  would  end  either  in  paralysis  or  death, 
and  his  prayer  was  that  it  might  be  death  outright.  He  proceeded, 
therefore.  Avith  the  aid  of  his  son.  to  adjust  with  careful  exactitude 
all  unsettled  matters  in  his  professional  and  domestic  life.  Hjs 
immediate  family  and  friends  endeavored  to  dissuade  him  from 
overtaxing  his  strength,  hut  his  reply  was  clear  and  decisive,  and 
entirely  characteristic:  '"Don't  say  a  word  about  my  health  or 
strength :  both  will  hold  out  as  long  as  I  shall  need  them.  Now  we 
must  work,  not  bemoan."  A  few  Aveeks  later  he  developed  a  car- 
buncle on  his  neck,  accompanied  by  an  intractible  fever,  and  on 
April  25th  he  died. 

His  good  Avife,  Deborah,  surAived  him  by  many  years,  and  died 
on  January  23,  1870.  Together  they  lie  buried  in  beautiful  Belle- 
fontaine  Cemetery  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis,  Avith  modest  marble 
slabs  to  mark  their  resting  place.  Fcav  are  the  pilgrimages  to  his 
graA'e.  and  fcAv  there  are  AAho  CA-en  know  Avhere  lie  the  remains 
of  this  unique  and  remarkable  man :  yet  all  mankind  has  profited 
bA'  A'irtue  of  his  having  liA'ed  and  Avorked. 


APPENDIX. 


ALEXIS  ST.  MARTIN'S  LAST  DAYS. 

St.  Martin  lived  twenty-eight  years  after  the  death  of  his  bene- 
factor, but  nothing  further  was  accomplished  in  the  nature  of 
experiments  save  some  unimportant  tests  by  Francis  Gurney  Smith, 
professor  of  the  Institute  of  Medicine  in  the  IMedical  Department 
of  Pennsylvania  College,  with  the  aid  of  Professor  R.  E.  Rodgers 
{Medical  Examiner,  July,  1856).  Among  other  conclusions  reached 
by  them  was  the  erroneous  one  that,  if  hydrochloric  acid  is  at  all 
present  in  the  gastric  juice,  it  is  in  very  small  quantities,  and  that 
the  main  agent  in  producing  the  characteristic  reaction  is  lactic 
acid.  It  seems  Alexis  was  at  this  time  exhibiting  himself  at  dif- 
ferent medical  schools  in  the  East,  and  was  also  reported  at  Buffalo 
about  this  time. 

In  1870  he  and  his  family  were  living  in  Cavendish,  Vt.,  where 
he  was  earning  his  livelihood  by  "chopping  wood  by  the  cord." 
Though  four  of  his  children  were  married,  they  Avere  all  living  with 
him  in  abject  poverty.  During  this  year  he  was  in  frequent  cor- 
respondence with  Israel  Green  Beaumont,  and  usually  concerning 
the  important  topic  of  money.  In  addition  to  this,  however,  in 
every  letter  he  lamented  the  death  of  Mrs.  Beaumont,  informed 
Israel  that  he  regarded  him  as  a  son,  gave  him  advice  as  to  the 
rearing  of  his  children,  etc.  In  1879  he  returned  to  St.  Thomas 
de  Joliette  in  Canada,  where  he  passed  his  last  days  in  poverty. 
He  wrote  to  Israel : 

.  .  .  I  am  beginning  to  get  old,  and  I  have  been  ill  for  six  years,  and 
I  will  not  hide  from  you  that  I  am  very  poor.  In  losing  your  father  I  lost 
much,  for  every  year  he  gave  me  some  money,  and  that  helped  me  a  great 
deal  in  my  poverty.  Therefore  I  call  myself  to  your  attention,  and  ask 
you  to  be  so  kind  as  to  continue  the  favors  of  your  father,  whom  I  regret 
very  much.  I  am  suffering  a  little  from  my  gastric  fistula,  and  my  diges- 
tion grows  worse  than  ever,  so  that  in  granting  me  your  charity,  in  order 
to  carry  on  the  traditions  of  your  father,  you  will  not  thereby  be  incon- 
venienced for  long,  as  I  am  old  and  sick.     .     .     . 

For  further  information  concerning  Alexis'  last  days  and  his 
death  we  are  indebted  to  Sir  William  Osier,  who  in  the  spring  of 

297 


298 


Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  WilJiam  Beaumont 


Alexis   St.   Martin  at   the  age  of  SI   vears.    (Prom  a  photograph  presented  to 
Sir  William  Osier.) 


"Poor  Martin!  I  am  glad  he  is  still  living,  and  hope  will  live  as  long  as 
Methusaleh  did,  and  that  thro  his  stomach  we  learn  to  see  and  regulate  the  con- 
duct of  our  own  precious,  yet  abused,  stomachs.  .  .  .  He.  too,  is  destined  to 
immortality.  But  perhaps  he  may,  after  all.  have  less  longing  in  that  line  than 
some  others  of  the  race.  He  is  indebted  to  his  stomach  for  his  earthly  immor- 
tality, while  others  are  to  their  good  deeds  and  self-sacrifice  in  the  cause  of 
humanity  and  of  science."     (I^etter  from  Dr.   John  McCall,   1S46.) 


Literature  References  and  Abstracts  299 

1880,  while  still  a  resident  of  Montreal,  learned  of  St.  Martin's 
death,  and  endeavored  to  obtain  permission  for  an  autopsy,  offering 
a  fair  price  for  the  stomach,  to  be  placed  in  the  Army  Medical 
Mnseiim  in  Washington.  He  was  unsuccessful  in  this,  but  received 
the  following  interesting  information  through  a  friend,  together 
with  Alexis'  photograph  taken  at  81  years  of  age: 

I  have  much  pleasure  today  in  placing  in  your  hands  such  information 
ahout  St.  Martin  as  Rev.  Mr.  Chicoine,  cure  of  St.  Thomas,  has  just  handed 
over  to  me.  Alexis  Bidigan,  dit  St.  Martin,  died  at  St.  Thomas  de  Joliette 
on  June  24,  1880,  and  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  of  the  parish  on  the 
28th  of  the  same  month.  The  last  sacraments  of  the  Catholic  church  were 
ministered  to  him  by  Rev.  Cure  Chicoine,  who  also  attended  at  his  burial 
service.  The  body  was  then  in  such  an  advanced  stage  of  decomposition 
that  it  could  not  be  admitted  into  the  church,  but  had  to  be  left  outside 
during  the  funeral  service.  The  family  resisted  all  requests — most  press- 
ing as  they  were — on  the  part  of  the  members  of  the  medical  profession 
for  an  autopsy,  and  also  kept  the  body  at  home  much  longer  than  usual 
and  during  a  hot  spell  of  weather,  so  as  to  allow  decomposition  to  set  in 
and  baffle,  as  they  thought,  the  doctors  of  the  surrounding  country  and 
others.  They  had  also  the  grave  dug  eight  feet  below  the  surface  of  the 
ground  in  order  to  prevent  any  attempt  at  a  resurrection.  When  he  died, 
St.  Martin  was  83  years  of  age,  and  left  a  widow,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Marie  Jolly. 


LITERATURE  REFERENCES  AND  ABSTRACTS  OF  CASES 

OF  GASTRIC  FISTULA  PRIOR  TO  THAT 

OF  ST.  MARTIN.^ 

Von  Grafenberg  Schenckius,   Johann,   1600 — De  vulneribus  ventriculi  ob- 
servationum  medicarum.    Francofurti,  lib.  Ill,  obs.  121,  pp.  621,  622. 

Covillard,  Joseph,  1639 — Un  ulcere  fistuleaux  penetrant  dans  le  ventricule. 
Observations  iatro-chirurgiques.    Lyon,  obs.  41,  pp.  104-107. 

Relates  the  case  of  a  soldier  who  received  a  wound  in  the  upper  and 
lateral  part  of  the  epigastrium,  through  which  his  aliment  issued.  His 
surgeons,  by  means  of  tents,  enabled  him  to  retain  food,  and  by  degrees  he 
recovered  his  health;  but  the  wound  of  the  stomach  never  closed,  and  he 
was  constantly  obliged  to  make  use  of  a  silver  plug.  Covillard  had  him 
take  out  this  plug  in  the  presence  of  several  medical  men,  and  they  saw 
about  a  spoonful  of  an  imperfectly  digested  chylous  substance  issue  from 
the  fistulous  opening;  after  this  he  swallowed  a  glass  of  wine,  which  was 
immediately  discharged  through  the  same  passage.  In  other  respects  the 
man  had  the  appearance  of  being  in  perfect  health.    (Cit.  Burrowes.) 


1  Some  of  the  orig-inal  articles   from  which  these  references   were  taken  were 
not  accessible  to  me,   and  therefore  all  of  them  have  not  been  verified. 


300  Life  (1)1(1  L(  iters  of  Dr.  M'Hlidni  Brauuionf 

Mentzelius.  C,  1GS7 — De  vulnere  ventriciili  ultia  undecim  annos  aperto, 
superstite  viro.  Misc.  Acad.  nat.  curios.,  1868,  Norimb.,  decur.  2,  v.  5, 
obs.  1,  1  pi.,  pp.  1-3. 

Wencker,  Christianus,  1734 — Diss,  sistens  virginis  per  viginti  septem 
annos  ventriculum  perforatum  alentis  historiam  et  sectionem.  Argen- 
torati.- 

Wencker,  Augustus,  1735 — Diss,  sistens  observationem  rariorem  de  virgine, 
ventriculum  per  viginti  tres  annos  perforatum  alente.  Diss.  Argen- 
torati.- 

Marguerite  Eiguerin,  admitted  to  Hospital  Norlingenn,  had  a  fistulous 
opening  in  the  stomach,  from  which  food  escaped.  At  the  age  of  15,  dur- 
ing her  first  menstrual  troubles,  she  developed  pain  in  the  left  hypochon- 
drium  and  left  breast.  An  opening  was  made  in  1708,  allowing  much  pus 
to  escape.  One  day,  in  1712,  when  she  was  19,  while  lifting  something  on 
a  long  fork  (pitchfork),  there  was  a  rupture,  with  discharge  of  pus,  blood, 
and  food.  The  fistulous  opening  in  the  left  hypochondrium  was  small; 
food  and  drink  flowed  from  the  opening.  She  grew  so  weak  that  she  was 
obliged  to  go  to  bed.  Eating  was  followed  by  violent  cardialgia,  which 
caused  her  to  expel  the  food  before  it  was  changed  to  chyme;  then  fresh 
hunger  set  in,  and  so  on.  At  the  age  of  41,  in  1734,  this  woman  ceased  to 
have  any  menstrual  flow.  In  a  year  she  grew  much  worse,  and  was  seen 
again  in  1739,  when  she  had  frequent  active  colics.  Hectic  fever  set  in, 
and  she  died  in  August,  aged  47  years.  Autopsy  showed  stomach  of  ordi- 
nary size.  Near  the  level  of  the  greater  curvature  was  found  an  opening 
whose  margin  was  firmly  adherent  with  the  external  opening  and  with  the 
abdominal  walls.     (Cit.  Gooch.) 

Louis,  1768 — Sur  la  consolidation  des  playes  avec  perte  de  substance. 
Mem.  Acad.  roy.  de  chir..  Par.,  vol.  IV,  pp.  106-140. 

Nebel,  D.  W.,  1782 — De  ulcere  prope  umbilicum  sinuoso,  in  ventriculum 
penetrante  ex  quo  alimenta  effluebant.    Diss.  40.    Heidelbergae. 

Burrowes,  G.,  1794 — Account  of  a  fistulous  opening  in  the  stomach.  Med. 
Facts  and  Obs.,  Lond.,  vol.  V,  pp.  185-190. 

An  inferior  officer  in  the  service  of  the  East  India  Company  received  in 
a  voyage  to  India  a  wound  in  the  abdomen,  between  the  cartilage  of  the 
eighth  rib  on  the  right  side  and  the  umbilicus,  penetrating  the  stomach; 
much  inflammation  and  fever  followed,  and  continued  for  a  very  considerable 
time.  When  the  inflammation  subsided,  an  opening  remained,  through 
which,  when  the  tent  was  withdrawn,  a  fluid  of  whitish  color  flowed.  The 
sides,  instead  of  closing,  turned  in  and  no  union  could  be  induced.  The 
man  was  therefore  advised  to  keep  the  opening  constantly  plugged  up.  This 
he  did  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  never  withdrawing  the  plug  but  to 
gratify  curiosity  or  to  replace  it  with  a  new  one.  The  opening  was  about 
one-third  of  an  inch  in  diameter.     The  plug  he  used  was  generally  cotton 


-These  two  feport.s  should  be  consitlered  as  one  case.  Either  there  is  a  mis- 
take in  the  given  name  of  the  writers  or  both  I'eported  on  the  same  case. 
The  former  seems  most  probable,  since  much  of  the  text  is  identical  word  for 
word. 


Literature  Beferences  and  Abstracts  301 

wick,  twisted  hard.  The  aiitlior  saw  him  for  the  first  time  twenty-seven 
years  after  the  injury.  About  November,  1790,  he  was  admitted  to  the 
House  of  Industry  at  Dublin.  The  patient  was  then  65  years  old,  ap- 
parently in  good  health.  He  states  that  on  removing  the  plug,  after  the 
man  had  taken  milk,  a  part  of  the  milk  quite  pure  escaped  through  the 
opening;  and  the  patient  observed  that  when  his  stomach  was  empty  of 
meat,  and  he  took  out  the  plug,  a  whitish  fluid  adhered  to  it  that  tasted 
sweet.  He  never  felt  any  pain  in  the  opening,  nor  inconvenience  from 
any  particular  food.  On  examining  his  body  after  death  the  wound  was 
found  to  penetrate  the  stomach  in  the  center  of  the  great  curvature,  and 
from  the  adhesions  to  the  liver,  colon,  and  integuments  a  very  considerable 
stricture  was  formed,  so  .as  to  give  the  stomach  the  appearance  of  a  double 
bag,  with  the  opening  in  the  middle;  the  duodenum  was  enlarged  beyond 
the  size  of  the  colon,  and  seemed  to  have  in  some  measure  performed  the 
functions  of  a  second  stomach.  The  colon  was  firmly  attached  to  the 
lower  part  of  the  stomach  by  a  ligamentous  substance,  which  Burrowes 
thinks  must  have  been  formed  by  the  infiammation  subsequent  to  the 
wound.     All  the  other  viscera  were  found  normal. 

Foubert,  M. — Mem.  de  I'Acad.  Roy.  de  chir.,  vol.  IV,  p.  124. 

Preserved  in  his  museum  the  stomach  of  a  man  who  died  in  the  Hotel 
Dieu  at  Orleans.  There  was  an  opening  connecting  externally  with  a 
wound,  into  which  the  person,  while  alive,  used  frequently  to  inject  dif- 
ferent aliments,  and  digested  them  as  well  as  those  taken  by  the  mouth. 
(Cit.  Burrowes.) 

Corvisart  and  Leroux,  1802 — Observation  sur  une  ouverture  fistuleause  a 
I'estomac.     J.  de  med.,  chir.  et  pharm..  Par.,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  407-435. 

State  that  Magedelaine  Gore,  aged  47,  born  in  Roussigni,  Department 
de  la  Manche,  at  the  age  of  20  was  thrown  down  on  stone  steps  while 
playing  with  other  girls,  and  was  unable  to  move  for  forty-five  minutes. 
Remained  in  bed  for  three  days,  but  returned  to  her  work  on  the  fifteenth 
day  after  the  fall;  always  walked  with  the  body  bent  over  to  the  left  after 
the  accident.  Eighteen  years  later  she  was  suddenly  taken  with  frequent 
severe  attacks  of  pain,  and  a  small  tumor  was  observed.  On  the  twenty- 
first  day  after  the  appearance  of  this  tumor  she  grew  nauseated  and 
vomited.  At  the  third  attempt  to  vomit,  the  tumor  opened  in  the  middle 
and  a  watery  fluid  escaped.  This  wound  never  closed.  Eight  months  after 
opening,  food  began  to  pass  through  the  orifice,  whereas  up  to  this  time 
only  liquids  had  escaped.  She  was  admitted  to  the  ward  of  the  internal 
clinic  in  Paris,  and  died  six  months  later.  Autopsy  showed  that  the  hole 
in  the  stomach  was  situated  in  the  anterior  wall  of  this  organ,  and  the 
fistulous  channel  continued  through  the  abdominal  walls  to  the  skin.  The 
peritoneal  membrane  of  the  stomach  continued  with  no  apparent  line  of 
union  with  the  portion  of  the  peritoneum  which  lined  the  wall  of  the 
abdomen.  The  stomach  had  contracted  such  intimate  union  with  the  wall 
of  the  abdomen  that  it  made  a  veritable  continuity,  simulating  a  congeni- 
tal condition. 


302  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  AyiUiam  Beaumont 

Gooch,  1802 — Suite  d'  observations  siir  les  ulceres  fistuleaux  a  restomac. 
J.  de  med.,  chir.  et  pliarm.,  Par.,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  503-527. 

In  May,  1768,  was  called  to  see  a  woman  named  Tovell,  aged  60,  of 
feeble  temperament.  About  ten  years  ago,  after  a  slight  external  injury, 
she  experienced  considerable  pain  in  her  left  side  in  epigastric  region. 
This  condition  of  pain,  at  intervals  of  short  duration,  remained  for  ten 
years,  when  a  tumor  appeared  over  the  region  of  the  stomach  and  rup- 
tured, allowing  food  to  escape. 

Second  Observation. — One  reads  in  the  preface  of  Crollius  of  an  ob- 
servation addressed  to  Dr.  Aegide  Hertoghe  by  Mathias  Cornax  of  a  fis- 
tulous opening  of  the  stomach.  A  peasant  o:^^  a  village  of  Bohemia  re- 
ceived a  wound  while  engaged  in  "etant  a  la  chasse,"  which  pierced  the 
stomach  near  the  cardiac  orifice.  The  wound  was  large,  and  allowed  food 
and  chyme  to  escape,  and  Cornax  considered  it  fatal.  He  recovered,  how- 
ever, although  he  continued  to  discharge  food  and  drink  from  the  wound 
in  the  stomach. 

The  first  writings  dealing  with  this  case  are  as  follows:  Mathias  Cornax, 
epistola  responsoria  ad.  doct.  Aegydium  Hertoghe.  The  first  is  found  in 
Crollius,  as  above  mentioned;  the  second  in  the  appendix  De  vulneribus 
lethalibus,  ac  non  lethalibus,  of  Bernard  Suerus,  of  Rotembourg,  physician 
of  Vinsheim;  the  third  in  the  annotations  of  the  therapeutique  of  Galien 
by  Jul.  Alexandrin,  cap.  4,  lib.  6;  the  fourth  Schenckius  (obs.  med., 
lib.  3,  obs.  1);  and  the  fifth  in  the  Observations  et  histoires  chirurgicales, 
collected  by  an  anonymous  writer,  and  printed  at  Geneve,  in  Chouet,  in 
1669.    ■ 

Borel,  physician,  of  Castres  (Petri  Borelli,  Histor.  et  observ.  rarior. 
medic,  phys.  Cent.  obs.  66),  reports  on  a  mendicant  who  had  a  fistula  of 
the  stomach  from  which  food  was  emitted.  The  fistula  had  existed  for 
some  time. 

Third  Observation. — Citizen  Maillott  received  during  the  first  skirmish 
at  Kayserslautern,  under  General  Hoche,  a  gunshot  wound  with  bullet, 
which  passed  through  clothing  and  pierced  the  skin,  lodging  under  the 
xyphoid  cartilage,  from  where  it  was  removed.  He  suffered  much  after 
extraction,  vomiting  almost  constantly  for  days.  After  having  his  life 
despaired  of,  he  finally  quieted  down,  and  the  wound  showed  a  deep  scar, 
involving  a  portion  of  the  stomach.  The  ulcer,  which  penetrated  into  the 
viscera,  five  months  after  injury  was  the  size  of  a  15-sou  piece.  It  was 
round,  and  the  margins  hard  and  violet  in  color.  He  improvised  an 
obturator,  which  supported  him  without  pain.  He  removed  this  one  day 
to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  some  one,  and  observed  an  escape  of  air.  Fur- 
ther examination  showed  him  that  the  fistula  communicated  with  the 
cavity  of  the  stomach.  He  appeared  in  good  health.  Was  discharged; 
condition  good  when  seen  eight  years  ago. 

Fourth  Observation. — Refers  to  the  Strassburg  dissertation  by  the  two 
Wenckers. 

Fifth  and  Sixth  Observations. — Were  those  of  perforating  ulcers  of  the 
stomach  not  resulting  in  fistulae — hence  do  not  belong  imder  this  head. 


Literature  References  and  Abstracts  303 

Seventh  Odservation. — Petit,  in  1710,  reports  a  case  of  fistula  due  to 
carcinoma.  The  tract  existed  but  three  weeks — hence  this  case  does  not 
belong  to  the  class  under  discussion. 

Eighth  Observation. — Talcen  from  a  thesis  in  1730,  in  Leipzig,  by 
Michael  Ethmuller.  He  says  that  he  saw  a  woman,  aged  30,  who  had  an 
opening  on  the  left  side  in  the  epigastric  region  the  size  of  a  haricot, 
through  which  food  and  drink  escaped.  About  ten  years  previous  she  had 
received  a  blow  in  the  epigastric  region  by  a  wagon  tongue,  six  months 
after  which  a  spontaneaus  opening  of  the  tumor  resulted. 

Halle,  1802 — Reflexions  generales  sur  les  ouvertures  fistuleuses  de  I'esto- 
mac.     J.  de  med.,  chir.,  pliarm.,  etc.,  Par.,  vol.  IV,  pp.  103-115. 

Reviews  the  articles  of  Gooch  and  Corvisart  and  Leroux,  but  cites  no 
new  cases. 

Dunglison,  Robley — Human  Physiology,  pp.  510-528,  1838. 

Mentions  a  case  of  Helm,  of  Vienna  (Rudolphi,  Grundriss  der  Physi- 
ologie,  Berlin,  1821),  one  of  Schenks  (Observ.  Medic.  Rar.  Novarum,  etc. 
Francofurti,  lib.  HI,  1609),  and  describes  at  length  the  case  of  a  female 
patient  at  the  hospital  La  Charite  of  Paris  (Richerand's  Nouveaux  Sie- 
mens de  Physiologic,  edit  13  eme  par  Berard  aine,  p.  72;  Bruxelles,  1837), 
who  had  been  gored  by  a  bull  and  had  a  fistulous  opening  in  the  stomach. 
At  the  admission  of  the  female  into  the  hospital  she  ate  three  times  as 
much  as  ordinary  persons.  Three  or  four  hours  after  a  meal  an  irresist- 
ible feeling  compelled  her  to  remove  the  dressing  from  the  fistulous  open- 
ing, so  as  to  allow  the  escape  of  the  food  which  the  stomach  could  no 
longer  contain,  when  the  contents  came  out  quickly,  accompanied  by  more 
or  less  air.  Experiments  made  on  this  half-digested  food  at  the  Ecole 
de  Medicine  showed  that  the  changes  which  it  had  undergone  were  an 
increase  of  gelatin,  the  formation  of  a  substance  like  fibrin,  and  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  muriate  and  phosphate  of  soda  and  phosphate  of 
lime.  This  patient  could  never  sleep  until  she  had  emptied  her  stomach 
and  washed  it  out  by  drinking  infusion  of  chamomile.  In  the  morning 
it  contained  a  small  quantity  of  thick,  frothy  liquid,  analogous  to  saliva 
(which  did  not  affect  vegetable  blues),  with  matters  of  greater  consis- 
tence, and  some  completely  opaque,  albuminous  flocculi,  mingled  with  the 
liquid  portion.  The  results  of  chymical  experiments  on  this  liquid  were 
similar  to  those  obtained  on  the  analysis  of  saliva. 

Smith,  F.  G. — Medical  Examiner,  July,  1856,  p.  385. 

Refers  to  the  "case  of  the  Esthonian  peasant,"  reported  by  Gruene- 
wald  and  Schroeder,  who  is  said  to  have  been  experimented  upon;  and 
one  by  Circaud,  Journal  de  Physiologic.  (Cyc.  of  Anat.  and  Phys.,  art. 
Digestion.) 


3  Von  Grafenberg  Schenckius. 


304  Life  and  Letters  of  Dr.  AViUiam  Beaumont 


SUMMARY   OF   LITERATURE  CONSULTED. 

Ayres,  S.  C. — A  Review  of  William  Beaumont's  Experiments  on  Alexis  St. 

Martin.    Cincinnati  Lancet-Clinic,  February  4,  1899. 
Bagg,  M.  M.— Memorial  History  of  Utica,  N.  Y.,  1892. 
Bailey. ^  John  Reed — Beaumont:    Army  Surgeon.     Physician  and  Surgeon, 

December,  1900. 
Bailey,  John  Reed — Mackinac:  History  and  Guide  Book,  1909. 
Baird,    Elizabeth    Theresa — Reminiscences    of    Early    Days    on    Mackinac 

Island.     Wisconsin  Historical  Collection,  vol.  XIV. 
Beaumont,  William — Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juice 

and  the  Physiology  of  Digestion.    F.  P.  Allen,  Plattsburgh,  1833. 
Brown,  Harvey  E. — Medical  Department  of  the  United  States  Army,  1775- 

1873. 
Catherwood,  Mary  Hartwell — Mackinac  and  Lake  Stories,  1899. 
Caulkins,  Miss  F.  M. — History  of  Norwich,  1845. 

Clinton  and  Franklin  Counties,  N.  Y.,  History  of — J.  W.  Lewis  &  Co.,  1880. 
Clinton  County  Medical  Society — Constitution  and  By-laws,  1904. 
Combe,  Dr.  Andrew — The  Physiology  of  Digestion,  1836. 
Combe,  Dr.  Andrew — Experiments  and  Observations  on  the  Gastric  Juice, 

etc..  by  Wm.  Beaumont,  M.  D.,  of  the  United  States  army.     Reprinted, 

with  notes.    1  vol.,  8vo.,  Edinburgh,  1838. 
Combe,  Dr.  Andrew — Memoir  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  the  Late  Andrew 

Combe.     Reprinted,  with  addition  from  the  Phrenological  Journal,  No. 

93,  October,  1847.     Neil  &  Co.,  Edinburgh. 
Dellenbaugh,  Frederick  S. — The  Breaking  of  the  Wilderness,  1905. 
Dunglison,  Robley — Human  Physiology,  1838. 
Edwards'   Great   West — History   of  the   City   of   St.    Louis.     Edwards  and 

Hopewell,  1860. 
Encyclopedias — Britannica  and  Americana. 
Franklin,  Conn.,  History  of — Celebration  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth 

Anniversary,  etc.,  October  14,  1868.     Tuttle,  Morehouse  &  Taylor,  New 

Haven. 
Oilman,  Daniel  Coit — Historical  Address,  Norwich,  Conn.     Rand  &  Avery, 

Boston,  1859. 
Goltra,^   John   Nelson — William   Beaumont  as  a   Scientist.     Physician   and 

Surgeon,  December,  1902. 
Goodwin,  E.  J.- — A  History  of  Medicine  in  Missouri,  1905. 
Hamilton,  Henry  E. — Incidents  in  the  life  of  Gurdon  Saltonstall  Hubbard, 

1888. 
Hazzard,  T.  L. — Dr.  Beaumont's  Experiments  on  St.  Martin.     Pennsylvania 

Medical  Journal,  vol.  XIV,  July,  1911. 
Hemenway. — Vermont  Gazetteer. 
Hitchcock — Diary  of  Major-General  Ethan  Allen:  Fifty  Years  in  Camp  and 

Field.     Edited  by  W.  A.  Croffut,  Ph.  D.,  1909. 
Hurd,  D.  H. — History  of  New  London  County,  Conn. 


*  Contribution  to  a  symposium  presented  on  the  occasion  of  the  Beaumont 
naemorial  exercises,  which  were  conducted  by  a  conjoint  meeting  of  the  Michi- 
gan State  and  the  Upper  Peninsula  medical  societies,  held  June  10,   1900. 


Suniinanj  of  Literature  ConsvMed  305 

Irving,  Washington — Astoria. 

Jameson,  J.  Franklin— Dictionary  of  United  States  History,  1492-1895. 

Johnson,  Alexander — American  Commonwealths,  Connecticut,  1887. 

Jones — Life  and  Letters  of  Robert  E.  Lee. 

Journal  of  the  House  of  Representatives — 1834  and  1835. 

Journal  of  the  Senate — 1834  and  1835. 

Kelton,  Dvv'ight  H.,  captain  United  States  army— Annals  of  Fort  Mackinac, 
1895. 

Lutz,4  Frank  J. — Beaumont:    Practitioner.   Physician  and  Surgeon,  1900. 
Martin,  Deborah   Beaumont   (Ella  Hoes  Neville,   Sarah  Green  Martin) — 
Historic  Green  Bay,  1634-1840,  1893. 

Martin,  Elizabeth  Smith— A  Flash  from  Memory.     Plattsburgh  Republican, 

June  6,  1896. 
McMaster,  John  Bach— A  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States. 
Medical  Recorder — Vol.  VIII,  No.  1,  article  III,  1825,  and  January,  1826. 
Missouri  Republican — Files  from  1835  to  1840. 

Morse,   Jedidiah — An  Abridgement   of  the   American   Gazetteer.     Thomas 
&  Andrews,  Boston,  1798. 

Morse,  Jedidiah — The  American  Universal  Geography,  vol.  I.     Thomas  & 
Andrews,  Boston,  1812. 

Osborn,^  Chase  S. — Beaumont:     Citizen.    Physician  and   Surgeon,   Decem- 
ber, 1900. 

Osler,5  William — William  Beaumont:      A  Pioneer  American  Physiologist. 

Journal  American  Medical  Association,  November  15,  1902. 
Packard,    Francis    Randolph — The    History    of    Medicine    in    the    United 

States,  1901. 

Pilcher,  James  Evelyn — The  Surgeon-Generals  of  the  United  States  Army. 

Journal  of  the  Association  of  Military  Surgeons  of  the  United  States, 

vol.  XIV,  Nos.  5,  6,  1904. 
Plattsburgh  Republican— Files  from  1811  to  1835. 
Raun — History  of  Chittenden  County,  Vt. 
Reyburn,6   Thomas — Memoir   of  the   Late   Dr.   Beaumont,   etc.     St.   Louis 

Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  vol.  XII,  March,  1854. 
Ridpath,  John  Clark — History  of  the  United  States,  1877. 
Roosevelt,  Theodore— The  Naval  War  of  1812,  1882. 
St.  Louis  Circuit  Court  Records — No.  179,  1844. 
St.  Louis  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  March  and  November,  1843;  May 

and  June,  1846;  May,  1853. 
St.  Louis  Medical  Society  Minutes,  1835  to  1841. 
Sewall,    Thomas — Boston    Medical    and    Surgical   Journal,    September    IS, 

1833. 
Silliman's  Journal,  vol.  XXVII,  July,  1833. 
Smith,  Francis  G. — Experiments  On  Digestion.     Medical  Examiner,  July, 

1856. 
Snow,  Marshall  S. — Higher  Education  in  Missouri.    United  States  Bureau 

of  Education,  Circular  No.  2,  1898. 


=  Address  before  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Society,  October  4.   1902. 
<=  Delivered  by  request  before  the  St.  Louis  Medical  Society,  lSo4. 


306  Life  and  Lcffcrs  of  Dr.  ^yiUialn  Bcnumont 

Spafford,  Horatio  Gates — A  Gazetteer  of  the  State  of  New  York.     H.  C. 

Southwick,  AlbanJ^  1813. 
Steele,"  A.    J. — Dr.    William    Beaumont,    With    Lessons    From    His    Life. 

Courier  of  Medicine,  August  and  September,  1887. 
Surgeon-General's  Office — ^Files  from  1812  to  1840. 
Town  Clerk's  Records — Lebanon,  Conn.,  1691  to  1800. 
Town  Clerk's  Records — Saybrook,  Conn.    (Deep  River,  Conn.) 
Trumbull,  Jonathan — The  Lebanon  War  Office,  Hartford,  Conn.,  1891. 
Tuttle,  Mrs.  George  Fuller — Three  Centuries  in  Champlain  Valley.    Platts- 

burgh,  1909. 
Vaughan,^   Victor   C. — William   Beaumont   and   His  Work.     Physician  and 

Surgeon.  1902. 
Williams,  Meade  C. — Early  Mackinac,  1901. 
Wisconsin  Historical  Collections — Vol.  VIII,  1877-1879. 
Woolson,  Constance  Fenimore — "Anne,"  1882, 


''Address  at  the  first  annual  commencement  of  the  Beaumont  Hospital  Medi- 
cal College  on  the  occasion  of  the  presentation  to  the  faculty  of  a  portrait  of 
Dr.  Beaumont,  March  1,  1887, 

*  President's  address  before  the  Michigan   State  Medical  Society,  1896. 


INDEX 


Abernathy,  200 

Abstracts  of  cases  of  gastric  fistulse, 

299 
Accident  to  Alexis  St.  Martin,  102 

to  Beaumont,  295 
Accumulation  of  gastric  juice,  197 

cause  of,  136 
Acetic  acid,  effect  of,  on  food,  153, 
163 
on  gelatin,  164 
on  meats,  163 
on  vegetables,  162 
gastric  juice  not,  167 
Acid  (see  Acetic,  ^luriatic) 
Action   of  Medical    Society   of   Mis- 
souri on  advertising,  274 
on  gossiping,  275 
Adams,  John  Quincy,  13,  89 
Advertising,    action  of  Medical   So- 
ciety of  Missouri  on,  274 
Affair  of  honor,  Beaumont  in,  57 
Alcohol     not     affected     by     gastric 

juice,  198 
Allen,  John,  3 

Alysma  plantago  in  hydrophobia,  64 
America,    first    Beaumont    ancestor 

in,  1 
American     Fur     Company,     history 
of,  92 
Physiological  Society,  letter  from, 
to  Beaumont,   244 
Analysis    of    gastric    juice    by    Ber- 
zelius,  231 
by  Dunglison,  160 
by  Jackson,  234 
by  Silliman,  182 
Ancestor,  first  Beaumont,  in  Amer- 
ica, 1 
Animal  diet,  effect  of  gastric  juice 

on,  137 
Apprenticeship  of  Beaumont,  18 
Army,   Beaumont  reenters,  as  post 
surgeon,   71 
Beaumont   reenters,   as   surgeon's 
mate,  34 
resigns  from,  60,  255 
retained  as  surgeon  in,  57 
Asiatic  cholera,  outbreak  of,  at  St. 
Louis,  293 
on  steamer,  142 
views  of  Beaumont  on,  142,  293 


Astor,  John  Jacob,  92 

Atmosphere,  effect  of,  on  digestion, 
135 

Attitude  of  citizens  of  Mackinac  to- 
ward St.  Martin,  115 

Axilla,  effect  of  heat  from,  153 


B 


Bache,  Franklin,  186 

Beaumont    submits    gastric    juice 

to,  186 
letter  from  Beaumont  to,  186 
from,  to  Beaumont,  186 
Baldwin,  Simeon,  6 
Battle  of  Little  York,  44 
of  Plattsburgh,  55 
of  Queenstown,  46 
Beamond,  Jon.,  2 
Beaumont,  accident  to,  295 
ancestor,  first,  in  America,  1 
and  Darnes-Davis  case,  276 
and  Mary  Dugan  case,  276 
(Andrew),   letter  from,   to   Beau- 
mont, 240 
applies   for   furlough    to   take   St. 

Martin  abroad,  140 
apprenticeship  of,  18 
a  Republican,  29 
arranges  to  publish  book,  179 

new  edition  of  book,  287 
arrives  at  Green  Bay  from  Platts- 
burgh, 129 
assumes  duties  at  Mackinac,  86 
attempts  moral  perfection,  77 
attracted  to  Deborah  Piatt,  68 
becomes  medical  apprentice,  18 
member      of     Clinton      County 

Medical  Society,  66 
member   of   Medical   Society  of 

Missouri,  272 
member  of  St.  Louis  Horticul- 
tural Society,  274 
member  of  The  Forum,  63 
schoolmaster.  16 
birth  of  daughter  to,  and  wife,  99 
(Buddy),    letter   from    Beaumont 

to,  268,  285 
chief     witness      in      malingering 

case,  123 
commissioned  as  post  surgeon,  71 
conceives  idea  of  experiments  on 
St.  Martin,  116 


307 


308 


Index 


Beaumont — cont'd 
Congress     declines    remuneration 

to,  211,  239 
death  of,  296 
describes  Mackinac,  81 

Niagara  Falls,  46 
diary  of,  while  surgeon's  mate,  38 
dissolves  partnership,  60 
elected   president   of    Medical    So- 
ciety of  Missouri,  275 
enters    army   as    surgeon's    mate, 
34 
private  practice  at  Plattsburgh, 

60 
private  practice  at  St.  Louis,  238 
exhibits    St.    Martin    to    medical 

societies,  224 
experiments    of,    confirm    opinion 

of  Dunglison,  167 
family,  genealogy  of,  1 
lineage  of,  9 
Abel,  8 

Abel,  death  of,  17 
Dan,  G 

Dan,  joins  Continental  army,  7 
Isaiah,  6 
John,  8 
Oliver,  6 
Samuel  (1),2,  5 
Samuel  (2),  5 
Samuel  ( 3 ) ,  5 
Samuel  (4),  6,  7,  8 
Samuel  (4),  joins  Continental 

army,  6 
Samuel  (5),  8 
William  (1),  1,  2 
William  (1),  codicil    to    deed 

of,  5 
William  (1),  deed  of,  3 
William  (1),  death  of,  5 
William  (1),  settles     at     Say- 
brook,  1 
William  (2),  5,  6 
William  (2),  death  of,  7 
William  ^3),  6 
William  (3),  joins  Continental 

army,  7 
William    (4),   the   subject  of 
this  book,  8 
follows  suggestions  of  Dunglison, 

158 
forms  partnership,  60 
genealogy  of,  family,  1 
granted  license  to  practice,  29 
in  affair  of  honor,  57 
Israel  Green,  8,  15 
issues    circular    on    strictures    of 

President  Adams,  126 
issues  prospectus  of  book,  187 


Beaumont — cont'd 
James    Madison    issued    commis- 
sion to,  34 
journal  from  Mackinac  to  Platts- 
burgh. \)l 
keeps  record  of  cases,  64 
leaves  army  as  surgeon's  mate,  34 

Champlain  for  St.  Albans,  18 

Port  Crawford  for  St.  Louis,  145 

his  preceptor,  31 

Jefferson    Barracks    for    Wash- 
ington, 233 

Lebanon  for  Champlain,  15 

Mackinac  on  furlough,  97 

New  York  for  Plattsburgh,  174 

Plattsburgh  for  St.  Louis,  235 

Plattsburgh  for  Washington,  151 

St.  Albans  for  Plattsburgh,  34 

St.  Louis  for  Plattsburgh,  145 
letter  from  American  Physiologi- 
cal Society  to,  244 

from  Andrew  Beaumont  to,  240 

from  Bache  to,  186 

from  Combe  to,  249 

from  Crooks  to,  188 

from  Dunglison  to,  159,  167 

from  Everett  to,  219 

from  Hitchcock  to,  251,  256 

from  Jackson  to,  224 

from  Lawson  to,  251 

from  Lee  to,  260 

from  Lovell  to,  187 

from  Lovell  to,  about  St.  Mar- 
tin case,  118 

from  McCall  to,  279 

from  St.    Martin    to,    228,    245, 
281, 284 

from,  to  Bache,  186 

from,  to  Berzehus,  172 

from,  to  Buddy    Beaumont,    268, 
285 

from,  to  Chandler,  34,  35 

from,  to  Combe,  249 

from,  to  Dunglison,  159,  161,  164, 
183 

from,  to  his  brother  Abel,  17 

from,  to  his  father,  16 

from,  to  his  parents,  17,  27 

from,  to  his  parents-in-law,  99 

from,  to  Hitchcock,  256,  260,267 

from,  to  Lawson,  252 

from,  to  lovell,  227 

from,  to  Lovell     about     mineral 
specimens,  87 

from,  to  Lovell     about     vaccine, 
131 

from,  to  McCall,  279 

from,  to  Morrison,  236 

from,  to  Mrs.  Beaumont,  233 


Index 


309 


Beaumont — co  nt'cl 

letter    from,    to    St.    Martin.    284, 
290,  291 
from,  to  Samuel   Beaumont,   292 
from,  to  Sewall,  177,  178 
from,  to  War  Department  about 
public  gardens,  89 
made    corresponding    member    of 
National      Institution      for 
Promotion   of   Science,   274 
honorary  member  of  Connecti- 
cut Medical  Society,  178 
of   Medical   Society   of   I\licb- 
igan,  120 
makes   contract  with  '  St.   Martin, 
147,191 
inventory  of  propertj%  208 
marries  Deborah  Piatt,  98 
memoralizes    Congress   for    remu- 
neration, 211,  239 
Van    Buren    for    restoration   to 
rank,  258 
not  a  Federalist,  29 
notebook  of,  while  apprentice,  21 
offered    chair    of    surgerj-    at    St. 

Louis,  238 

ordered  from  Green  Bay  to  Fort 

Crawford,  133 

from  Mackinac  to  Niagara,  121 

from  Niagara  to  Green  Bay,  129 

from  New  York  to  Plattsburgh, 

176 
from  Plattsburgh  to  Mackinac,  71 
from  Plattsburgh    to    Washing- 
ton. 191 
from  St.  Louis  to  Florida,  255 
from  Washington    to    Jefferson 

Barracks,  222 
from  Washington  to  New  York, 

166 
to  inspect  hospitals,  222 
plans    regulations    for    hospitals, 

222 
professional  partnerships  of,   271 
reads  medical  works,  18 
receives    certificate    as    judicious 
practitioner.  31 
certificate  of  character,  32,  56 
honorary    degree    of   Doctor   of 
Medicine,  177 
record    of   treatment    of    St.    Mar- 
tin, 104 
reenters  army  as  post  surgeon,  71 

as  surgeon's  mate,  34 
reports  to  Alexander   Macomb  at 

Mackinac,  82 
resignation  of,  accepted.  257 
resigns  from  army,  60,  255 
retained  as  surgeon  in  army,  57 


Beaumont — cont'd 

retires  from  private  practice,  69 
returns  to  Mackinac  with  bride,  98 
reviews  history   of  Medical   Soci- 
ety of  Missouri,  275 
St.   Martin   accompanies,  to   New 
York, 166 
accompanies,  to  Washington,  151 
leaves  for  Canada,  139 
meets,  at  Plattsburgh,  147 
returns    to.    at   Fort    Crawford, 

134 
takes  French  leave  of,  122 
(Samuel)    letter   from  Beaumont 

to,  292 
school  days  of,  11 
sends  Buddy  after  St.  Martin,  285- 
challenge  to  a  duel.  57 
report    of    St.    Martin    case    to 
Lovell,  118 
Sir  Roger,  1 

soliloquy  on  Charity,  116 
spends    furlough    at    Plattsburgh, 

235 
submits  gastric  juice  to  Bache,  186 
to  Berzelius,  172 
to  Dunglison,  158 
to  Jackson,  224 
to  Silliman,  169 
tenders    resignation    from    army, 

255 
traveling     journal     from     Platts- 
burgh to  Mackinac,  74 
views  of,  on  Asiatic  cholera,  142, 
293 
on  religion,  268 
wants  St.  IMartin  to  come  to  St. 
Louis,  243 
Benton,  Thomas  Hart,  152,  205 
letter  from,  about  book,  205 
Bernard.  Claude,  289 
Berzelius,  Jacob,  169,  203 

analysis  of  gastric  juice  by,  231 
Beaumont    submits    gastric    juice 

to, 172 
letter  from  Beaumont  to,  172 
from  Silliman  to,  171,  180 
from,  to  Silliman,  230 
on  gastric  juice,  180 
Bile,  effect  of,  with  chyme,  138 
Birth  of  daughter  to  Beaumont  and 

wife,  99 
Bishop,  Caroline  E.,  19 
Black  Hawk  Indian  war,  141 
Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  13 
Book.    Beaumont   arranges   to   pub- 
lish. 179 
new  edition  of,  287 
issues  prospectus  of,  187 


310 


Index, 


Book — cont'd 

English  edition  of.  by  Combe.  246 
extracts  from,  197 
letter  from  Benton  about,  205 
from  Cass  about,  204 
from  Everett  about.  205 
from  Fuller  about.  205 
from  Livingston  about.  207 
from  Piatt  about.  204 
from  Story  about.  207 
from  Van  Buren  about.  204 
from  Wilde  about,  205 
preface  to.  193 

to  English  edition  of,  247 
reviews  of  newspapers  on.  188 
Bostock,  200 
Boyd,  George,  89 
Boyse.  Samuel.  2 
British    ^Medical    Society   wants    St. 

:Martin.  280 
Brock,  Isaac,  death  of,  46 
Brown.  Jacob,  4 1 
Broussais,  200 
Burr.  Aaron.  36 


Canada,  St.  :Martin  leaves  Beaumont 
for,  139 
leaves  Plattsburgh  for,  174 

Washington  for,  225 
returns    to    Fort    Crawford    from. 
134 
to  Plattsburgh  from,  177 
Cannon, 203 

Carminati  on  gastric  juice,  180 
Cases,    Beaumont    keeps   record    of, 

64 
Cass,  Lewis.  130.  152.  204 
letter  from,  about  book,  204 
from,  to  members  of  Congress, 
229 
petition    from    members    of    Con- 
gress to,  229 
Cause    of    accumulation    of    gastric 
juice.  136 
of  peristaltic  motions,  197 
Certificate  as  judicious  practitioner, 
Beaumont  receives,  31 
of  character,   Beaumont  receives, 
32,  56 
Champlain,    Beaumont    leaves,    for 
St.  Albans.  IS 
leaves  Lebanon  for.  15 
Chandler.  Benjamin.  18 
death  of,  19 

letter  from  Beaumont  to,  34,  35 
John  F.,  19 
Charity,  Beaumont  soliloquy  on,  116 


Chemical  test,  gastric  juice  contains 
principles  inappreciable  to, 
153 
Cholera,  outbreak  of  Asiatic,  at  St. 
Louis,  293 
on  steamer,  142 

views  of  Beaumont  on,  142,  293 
Chyme,  effect  of  bile  with,  138 

effect  of  pancreatic  juice  on,  138 
Chymiflcation.  process  of,  198 
Clark,  John,  2 

Clinton     County     r^Iedical     Society, 
Beaumont  becomes  member 
of,  66 
Codicil    to    deed    of    William    Bea- 

mont,  5 
Combe,  Andrew,  246 

letter  from  Beaumont  to.  249 
from,  to  Beaumont,  249 
Comminuted  particles,  effect  of  gas- 
tric juice  on,  137 
Congress,    Beaumont    memorializes, 
for  remuneration,  211.  239 
declines    remuneration    to    Beau- 
mont, 211,  239 
letter  from  Cass  to  members  of, 

229 
petition  from  members  of,  to  Cass, 
229 
Connecticut  Medical  Society.  Beau- 
mont made  honorary  mem- 
ber of,  178 
Continental    army,    Dan    Beaumont 
joins,  7 
petition  of  soldiers  of,  for  higher 

pay.  7 
Samuel  Beaumont   (4)  joins,  6 
William  Beaumont    (3)   joins,  7 
Contract,  Beaumont  makes,  with  St. 

Martin,  147,  191 
Court-martial    proceedings    in    ma- 
lingering case,  123 
strictures  of  President  Adams  on, 
125 
Crooks,  Ramsay,  92,  134.  188 
letter  from,  to  Beaumont,  188 


D 


Dallas.  A.  J..  56 

Darnes-Davis   case.    Beaumont    and, 
276 

Dearborn.  Henry.  34.  39 

Death  of  Abel  Beaumont.  17 
of  Beaumont.  296 
of  Benjamin  Chandler,  19 
of  Benjamin  Silliman,  169 
of  Cassius  Francis  Pomeroy.  29 
of  Isaac  Brock,  46 


Index 


311 


Death — cont'd 

of  Joseph  Lovell,  118,  242 
of  Melanchton  Smith,  68 
of  Nathan  Tisdale,  11 
of  St.  Martin,  299 
of  Truman  Powell,  31 
of  William  Beamont    (1),  5 
of  William  Beaumont   (2),  7 
of  Zebulon  Montgomery  Pike,  44 
Declaration  of  War  of  1812,  32 
Deductions  from  four  series  of  ex- 
periments, 200 
Deed  of  William  Beamont  (1),  3 
of  William  Beamont    (1),  codicil 
to,  5 
Description  of  gastric  juice,  197 
of  mucous  membrane  of  stomach, 

197 
of  voyageurs,  94 
Diary  of  Beaumont  while  surgeon's 

mate,  38 
Diet,   stomach  becomes   accustomed 

to, 138 
Digestion  by  gastric  juice  in  stom- 
ach, 137 
by  gastric  juice   out  of  stomach, 

136 
effect  of  atmosphere  on,  135 
of  passion  on,  137 
of  taste  on,  153 
of  temperature  on,  137 
Doctor   of   Medicine,    Beaumont    re- 
ceives  honorary   degree   of, 
177 
Duel,  Beaumont  sends  challenge  to 

a,  57 
Dunglison,  Robley,  154 

analysis  of  gastric  juice  by,  160 
Beaumont  follows  suggestions  of, 
158 
submits  gastric  juice  to,  158 
experiments  of  Beaumont  confirm 

opinion  of,  167 
letter  from  Beaumont  to,  159,  161 
164, 183 
from,  to  Beaumont,  159,  167 
from,  to  Lovell,  154 
suggestions     of,     in     experiments 
with  gastric  juice,  156,  161 


E 


Edwards,  W.  G.,  289 
Effect  of  acetic  acid  on  food,  153,  163 
on  gelatin,  164 
on  meats,  163 
on  vegetables,  162 
of  atmosphere  on  digestion,  135 
of  bile  with  chyme,  138 


Effect — cont'd 
of  gastric  juice  on  animal  diet,  137 
on  comminuted  particles,  137 
on  milk,  138 
on  vegetable  diet,  137 
of  heat  from  axilla,  153 
from  water  bath,  153 
of  muriatic  acid  on  food,  153 
on  gelatin,  164 
on  meats,  163 
on  vegetables,  162 
of  pancreatic  juice  on  chyme,  138 
of  passion  on  digestion,  137 
of  taste  on  digestion,  153 
of  temperature  on  digestion,  137 
Elliott,  William  Greenleaf,  241 
founder    of    Washington    Univer- 
sity, 241 
secretary  of  Board  of  Trustees  of 
St.  Liouis  University,  241 
Emmet,  161 

English  edition  of  book  by  Combe, 
246 
preface  to,  of  book,  247 
physiologists     interested     in     St. 
Martin  case,  246 
Everett,  Edward,  152,  205 
letter  from,  about  book,  205 
from,  to  Beaumont,  219 
Experiments,     Beaumont    conceives 
idea  of,  on  St.  Martin,  116 
deductions    from    four    series    of, 

200 
first  series  of,  with  gastric  juice, 

121 
fourth     series     of,     with     gastric 

juice,  179 
of  Beaumont   confirm   opinion    of 

Dunglison,  167 
of  Jackson  with  gastric  juice,  225 
second     series     of,     with     gastric 

juice,  134 
third  series  of,  with  gastric  juice, 

153 
with  gastric  juice,  suggestions  of 
Dunglison  in,  156,  161 
Extracts  from  book,  197 


F 


Family,  genealogy  of  Beaumont,  1 

lineage  of  Beaumont,  9 
Federalist,  Beaumont  not  a,  29 
Fenwick,  Lady  George,  3 
First  Beaumont  ancestor  in  Amer- 
ica, 1 
series  of  experiments  with  gastric 
juice,  121 
with  gastric  juice  printed,  122 


312 


Index 


Fistulse,  abstracts  of  cases   of  gas- 
tric, 299 
literature   references   to  cases   ot 
gastric,  299 
Flagg,  Azariah  C,  210 
Florida,  Beaumont  ordered  from  St. 

Louis  to,  255 
Fluids  not  affected  by  gastric  juice, 

198 
Food,  effect  of  acetic  acid  on,  153, 
163 
effect  of  muriatic  acid  on,  153 
hunger  allayed  by  inserting,  into 

stomach,  153 
revolutions  of,  in  stomach,  198 
Fort    Crawford,     Beaumont    leaves, 
for  St.  Louis,  145 
Beaumont    ordered     from     Green 

Bay  to,  133 
St.   Martin   returns   from   Canada 
to, 134 
Forum,     The,     Beaumont     becomes 

member  of,  G3 
Fourth   series  of  experiments  with 

gastric  juice,  179 
French  and  Indian  war,  129 

physiologists     interested     in     St. 
Martin  case,  289 
Fuller,  Philo  C,  205 

letter  from,  about  book,  205 
Furlough  at  Plattsburgh,  Beaumont 
spends,  235 
Beaumont  applies  for,  to  take  St. 
Martin  abroad,  140 

G 

Gastric  fistulse,  abstracts  of  cases  of, 
299 
literature  references   to  cases  of, 
299 
Gastric  juice  a  solvent,  167,  198 
accumulation  of,  197 
alcohol  not  affected  by,  198 
analysis  of,  by  Berzelius,  231 
by  Dunglison,  160 
by  Jackson,  234 
by  Silliman,  182 
Beaumont  submits,  to  Bache,  186 
to  Berzelius,  172 
to  Dunglison,  158 
to  Jackson,  224 
to  Silliman,  169 
Berzelius  on,  180 
Carminati  on,  180 
cause  of  accumulation  of,  136 
contains  principles   inappreciable 
to  chemical  test,  153 
to  the  senses,  153 


Gastric  juice — cont'd 
description  of,  197 
digestion  by,  in  stomach,  137 

by,  out  of  stomach,  136 
Dunglison  makes  analysis  of,  160 
effect  of,  on  animal  diet,  137 
on  comminuted  particles,  137 
on  milk,  138 
on  vegetable  diet,  137 
experiments  of  Jackson  with,  225 
first   series   of   experiments   with, 
121 
printed,  122 
fluids  not  affected  by,  198 
fourth  series  of  experiments  with, 

179 
Gmelin  on,  180 
Montegre  on,  180 
not  acetic  acid,  167 
not  muriatic  acid,  167 
precise  constituents  of,  167 
previous  theories  of,  wrong,  162 
Prout  on,  180 
second  series  of  experiments  with, 

134 
Silliman  on,  182 
solvent  ingredients  of,  158 
properties  of,  in  stomach,  139 
out  of  stomach,  139 
Spallanzani  on,  180 
suggestions    of    Dunglison    in   ex- 
periments with,  156,  161 
third  series  of  experiments  with, 

153 
Tiedemann  on,  180 
water  not  affected  by,  198 
Werner  on,  180 
Gelatin,  effect  of  acetic  acid  on,  164 

of  muriatic  acid  on,  164 
Genealogy  of  Beaumont  family,  1 
Ghent,  conclusion  of  treaty  of,  56 

ratification  of  treaty  of,  56 
Gilbert,  Thomas,  2 
Gilman,  Daniel  Coit,  6 
Gmelin  on  gastric  juice,  180 
Gosse,  156 
Gossiping,  action  of  Medical  Society 

of  Missouri  on,  275 
Green,  Israel,  66 

Clinton    County    Medical    Society 

organized  at  house  of,  66 
Nathaniel,  68 
Green    Bay,    Beaumont    arrives    at, 
from  Plattsburgh,  129 
Beaumont  ordered  from   Niagara 
to,  129 
from,  to  Fort  Crawford,  133 
Red  Bird  makes  war  at,  130 
surrenders  at,  131 


Index 


313 


H 


Heat,  effect  of,  from  axilla,  153 

from  water  bath,  153 
Helm,  156 
History  of  American  Fur  Company, 

92 
Hitchcock,  Ethan  Allen,  251 

letter  from  Beaumont  to,  256,  260, 
267 
from,  to  Beaumont,  251,  256 
Horticultural  Society,  Beaiimont  be- 
comes member  of  St.  Louis, 
274 
Hospitals,  Beaumont  ordered  to  in- 
spect,  222 
Beaumont   plans   regulations   for, 
222 
Hubbard,  Gurdon  S.,  94,  102 
Hunger   allayed    by   inserting    food 
into  stomach,  153 
sense  of,  resides  in  stomach,  153 
Hunt,  Wilson  Price,  92 
Hunter,  Edward,  66,  200,  203 
Hydrophobia,  alysma  plantago  in,  64 

I 

Ingham,  Benjamin,  5 

Intermittent    fever,    prevalence    of, 

143 
Inventory    of    property,    Beaumont 

makes,  208 
Irving,  Washington,  92 


Jackson,  Andrew,  190 
Charles  F.,  224 

analysis  of  gastric  juice  by,  234 
experiments    of,    with     gastric 

juice,  225 
letter  from,  to  Beaumont,  224 
Jefferson     Barracks,     Beaumont 
leaves,  for  Washington,  233 
Beaumont    ordered    from    Wash- 
ington to,  222 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  13,  36 

K 

Keim,  Sarah  Beaumont,  7 
Kingsley,  Walter  G.,  6 
Kinzie,  John  H.,  94 


Last  days  of  St.  Martin,  297 
Lawson,  Thomas,  57,  251 

appointed  surgeon-general,  251 


Lawson,  Thomas — cont'd 

letter  from  Beaumont  to,  252 

from,  to  Beaumont,  251 
Lebanon,      Beaumont     leaves,     for 
Champlain,  15 
Meeting-house  war  at,  12 
township  of,  10 
Lee,  Robert  E.,  260 

letter  from,  to  Beaumont,  260 
Letter  from  American  Physiological 
Society  to  Beaumont.  244 
from  Andrew  Beaumont  to  Beau- 
mont, 240 
from  Bache  to  Beaumont,  186 
from  Beaumont  to  Bache,  186 

to  Berzelius,  172 

to  Buddy  Beaumont,  268,  285 

to  Chandler,  34,  35 

to  Combe,  249 

to  Dunglison,  159,  161,  164,  183 

to  his  brother  Abel,  17 

to  his  father,  16 

to  his  parents,  17,  27 

to  his  parents-in-law,  99 

to  Hitchcock,  256,  260,  267 

to  Lawson,  252 

to  Lovell,  227 

to  Lovell   about   mineral   speci- 
men, 87 

to  Lovell  about  vaccine,  131 

to  McCall,  279 

to  Morrison,  236 

to  Mrs.  Beaumont,  233 

to  St.  Martin,  284,  290,  291 

to  Samuel  Beaumont,  292 

to  Sewall.  177,  178 

to  War  Department  about  pub- 
lic gardens,  89 
from  Benton  about  book,  205 
from  Berzelius  to  Silliman,  230 
from  Cass  about  book,  204 

to  members  of  Congress,  229 
from  Combe  to  Beaumont,  249 
from  Crooks  to  Beaumont,  188 
from  Dunglison  to  Beaumont,  159, 
167 

to  Lovell,  154 
from  Everett  about  book,  205 

to  Beaumont,  219 
from  Fuller  about  book,  205 
from  Hitchcock  to  Beaumont,  251, 

256 
from  Jackson  to  Beaumont,  224 
from  Lawson  to  Beaumont,  251 
from  Lee  to  Beaumont,  260 
from  Livingston  about  book,  207 
from  Lovell  to  Beaumont,  187 

about  St.  Martin  case,  118 
from  McCall  to  Beaumont,  279 


314 


Index 


Letter — cont'd 

from  Piatt  about  book,  204 
from  St.  Martin  to  Beaumont,  228, 

245,  281,  284 
from  Silliman   to    Berzelius,    171, 

180 
from  Story  about  book,  207 
from  Van  Buren  about  book,  204 
from  Wilde  about  book,  205 
License      to      practice,      Beaumont 

granted,  29 
Lineage   of   Beaumont   family    (see 

Beaumont  family),  9 
Literature    consulted,    summary    of, 
304 
references  to  cases  of  gastric  fis- 
tulfe.  299 
Little  York,  battle  of,  44 
Livingston.  Edward,  13,  175,  207 

letter  from,  about  book,  207 
Louisiana  territory,  purchase  of,  13 
Lovell.  Joseph,  55,  57 
death  of.  118,  242 
letter  from  Beaumont  to.  227 
from  Dunglison  to,  154 
from,  to  Beaumont,  187 
Lyman.  Rev.  Dr.,  6 

M 

McCall,  John,  279 

letter  from  Beaumont  to.  279 
from,  to  Beaumont,  279 
:\IcClellan,  Sam,  6 
McMaster.  John  Bach,  11 
IMaceration,  theory  of,  disproved,  153 
Mackinac,  attitude  of  citizens  of,  to- 
ward St.  Martin,  115 
Beaumont  assumes  duties  at,  86 
describes.  81 
leaves,  on  furlough.  97 
journal  from,  to  Plattsburgh,  97 
ordered  from  Plattsburgh  to,  71 

from,  to  Niagara.  121 
reports    to    Alexander    Macomb 

at,  82 
returns  to.  with  bride,  98 
traveling    journal    from    Platts- 
burgh to,  74 
Macomb,  Alexander,  47,  55,  71 

Beaumont    reports    to,    at    Macki- 
nac, 82 
Madison.  James,  issued  commission 

to  Beaumont,  34 
Magendie,  156 

Malingering    case,    Beaumont    chief 
witness  in,  123 
court-martial  proceedings  in,  123 
Mann,  James,  55 


Martin.  Elizabeth  Smith,  99 

Mary    Dugan   case,    Beaumont   and, 

277 
Matthews,  W.  W.,  93,  134 
Meats,  effect  of  acetic  acid  on.  163 

-of  muriatic  acid  on,  163 
Medical    apprentice,    Beaumont    be- 
comes, 18 
Society    of    Michigan.    Beaumont 
made  honorarv  member  of, 
120 
Society  of  ilissouri,  action  of,  on 
advertising,  274 
action  of,  on  gossiping.  275 
Beaumont  becomes  member  of, 
272 
elected  president  of.  275 
reviews  history  of,  275 
Meeting-house  War  at  Lebanon,  12 
Michilimackinac  (see  Mackinac) 
Milk,  effect  of  gastric  juice  on,  138 
Monroe,  James,  13,  68.  71 
Montegre,  156,  160 

on  gastric  juice,  180 
Moral     perfection,     Beaumont     at- 
tempts, 77 
Morrison,  William,  94,  134,  236 
letter  from  Beaumont  to,  236 
Mucous  membrane  of  stomach,  de- 
scription of,  197 
Muriatic  acid,  effect  of,  on  food,  153, 
163 
on  gelatin,  164 
on  meats.  163 
on  vegetables,  162 
gastric  juice  not,  167 

N 

National  Institution  for  Promotion 
of  Science.  Beaumont  made 
corresponding  member  of, 
274 

Newcomb,  Simon,  66 

New  edition  of  book,  Beaumont  ar- 
ranges to  publish,  287 

Newspapers,  reviews  of,  on  book, 
188 

New  York.    Beaumont     leaves,     for 
Plattsburgh,  174 
Beaumont  ordered  from,  to  Platts- 
burgh, 176 
ordered    from    Washington    to, 
166 
St.  Martin  accompanies  Beaumont 
to. 166 

Niagara,    Beaumont    ordered    from 
Mackinac  to,  121 
ordered  from,  to  Green  Bay,  129 


Index 


315 


Niagara  Falls,  Beaumont  describes, 
46 

Nicollet,  Jean,  129 

Notebook  of  Beaumont  while  ap- 
prentice, 21 


0 


Osier,  William,  107,  221,  297 
Outbreak  of  Asiatic  cholera  at   St. 
Louis,  293 

on  steamer,  142 

views  of  Beaumont  on,  142,  293 


Pancreatic  juice,  effect  of,  on  chyme, 

138 
Paris,  200 
Partnership,  Beaumont  forms,  60 

Beaumont  dissolves,  60 
Passion,  effect  of,  on  digestion,  137 
Pavlow,  203 

Peristaltic  motions,  cause  of,  197 
Petition  of  members  of  Congress  to 
Cass,  229 
of    soldiers    of   Continental    army 
for  higher  pay,  7 
Philip,  200 

Physiologists,  English,  interested  in 
St.  Martin  case,  246 
French,   interested   in   St.   Martin 
case,  289 
Pierce,  B.  K.,  89 
Pike,  Zebulon  Montgomery,  36 

death  of,  44 
Piatt,  Deborah,  Beaumont  attracted 
to,  68 
Beaumont  marries,  98 
Jonas,  204 

letter  from,  about  book,  204 
Levi,  56 
Nathaniel,  2 
Plattsburgh,  battle  of,  55 

Beaumont   arrives   at   Green   Bay 
from,  129 
enters  private  practice  at,  60 
journal  from  Mackinac  to,  97 
leaves,  for  St.  Louis,  235 
for  Washington,  151 
New  York  for,  174 
St.  Albans  for,  34 
St.  Louis  for,  145 
ordered  from  New  York  to,  176 
from,  to  Mackinac,  71 
from,  to  Washington,  191 
spends  furlough  at,  235 
traveling      journal      from,      to 
Mackinac,  74 


Plattsburgh — cont'd 

St.  Martin  leaves,  for  Canada,  174 
meets  Beaumont  at,  147 
returns  to,  from  Canada,  177 
Pomeroy,  A.  A.,  31 
Cassius  Francis,  29 
John,  18,  29,  31 
Seth,  31 
Post    surgeon,    Beaumont    commis- 
sioned as,  71 
Powell,  Truman,  31 
Preface  to  book;  193 

to  English  edition  of  book,  247 
Prevalence  of  intermittent  fever,  143 
Previous   theories    of   gastric    juice 

wrong,  162 
Prevost,  George,  47.  55 
Private   practice,   Beaumont   retires 

from,  69 
Process  of  chymification,  198 
Professional   partnerships   of   Beau- 
mont, 271 
Prout  on  gastric  juice,  180 
Purchase  of  Louisiana  territory,  13 

Q 
Queenstown,  battle  of,  46 

R 

Reaumur,  202 

Record  of  cases,  Beaumont  keeps,  64 

Red  Bird  makes  war,  130 

surrenders  at  Green  Bay,  131 

Religion,  views  of  Beaumont  on,  268 

Republican,  Beaumont  a,  29 

Resignation,  Beaumont  tenders, 
from  army,  255 
of  Beaumont  accepted,  257 

Restoration  to  rank,  Beaumont  me- 
morializes Van  Buren  for, 
258 

Reviews  of  newspapers  on  book,  188 

Revolution,  War  of  the,  6 

Revolutions  of  food  in  stomach,  198 

Richerand,  200 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  39 

Rumor  of  War  of  1812,  16 


S 


St.  Albans,  Beaumont  leaves  Cham- 
plain  for,  18 
leaves,  for  Plattsburgh,  34 
St.  Louis,  Beaumont  enters  private 
practice  at,  238 
leaves,  for  Plattsburgh,  145 
Fort  Crawford  for,  145 
Plattsburgh  for,  235 


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